Can be sued if a friend's dog was hit by a car because I didn't close the gate? 18 Answers as of February 17, 2012

If you knew this woman well enough to be messin' with her salad, you should have known about the dog scenario. However, knowing her dog was a wild one, she should have warned you. Both to blame. 50% Judgment for the Plaintiff. You were careless and the dog escaped. It is foreseeable that the dog could be struck by a car. She should have warned you about the dogs.

It all comes down to whether your act was negligent, and whether you could have reasonably foreseen that leaving the gate open would potentially create the situation where the dog would get out and be hit by a car. If you had no way to know this could happen (e.g., you did not know the dog was in the yard), you would have a pretty good argument that you were not negligent and that this was just an accident. If you knew the dog was there or had other reason to know that you should close the gate, a judge in small claims court may decide that you were negligent and responsible for what happened. If you feel that the truth may be somewhere in the middle and maybe you were a little careless, you may want to try to work out a compromise with the friend. If she sues you, the first thing that the court will do after you make your appearance is tell you to sit down and try to work it out. You may suggest to your friend that you don't feel responsible (e.g., you could not have known that this would happen) but that you want to try to compromise. It would save both of you court costs etc.

Anybody can be sued on any account. Proving a case is a different matter.

You can be sued. Of course, she was responsible initially for forgetting the salad. She has to show that a foreseeable consequence of your not closing the gate is the dog escaping and getting hit by a car. Escape is easy to show. Car is harder. Driver may also be responsible for hitting dog. Best guess is you should pay portion of expenses.

She can sue you. Whether she wins or not is up to the Judge.

That is an interesting question. If you were paid to watch the dog and you were negligent, I don't see any reason why you couldn't be sued.

You should immediately put your insurance carriers on notice of this potential claim. This includes your homeowners (or renters) policy and any umbrella / excess policy. Based on the information provided, it is impossible to say whether or not you are legally liable. You "guess" you didn't close the gate "good enough." If you closed the gate, then don't "guess" yourself into fault. Do not discuss the matter further with anyone except a proper representative of your insurance company and/or your attorney. Do not post admissions online (Facebook, legal advice websites, etc.) as your comments may be used in court some day.

Probably, based upon the facts that you described. Why don't you discuss an amicable resolution? Once she files the lawsuit, then the filing fees, frequently around $450-500, will be added on to whatever judgment she gets against you. It's best to try to work it out with her before she files the lawsuit.