Participation Agreements

Pre-Conference Workshop:
What you should know about your Contracts: unconscionability, consideration, forgery, minors and other legal issues.

Workshop Description

The workshop will help you understand the elements and use of a document which provides protection from claims, including a “release” or waiver of claims of negligence, and should enable an organization, assisted by counsel of its choosing and competent in this area of the law, to create such a document.


We will explore the essential elements of your participation agreement including “release” language, from title to signature and, using current case law as a guide, consider reliable strategies for protecting your program from the claims of climbers and others. Participants in this interactive session willing to do so are encouraged to bring their agreements to the seminar for review and discussion.

Workshop Outline:

1. What is a release?
2. Why a release?
3. The elements of the agreement.
4. Issues regarding minors.
5. How might a release fail?
6. Issues of ethics and coercion.

Presenter Bio

Charles (Reb) Gregg is a practicing attorney in Houston, Texas, specializing in general litigation and the legal liability issues of adventure and recreation programming. Mr. Gregg is a frequent speaker in the outdoor recreation industry and has written extensively on these issues, including in the Outdoor Education and Recreation Law Quarterly which he co-edited. Reb is counsel to a number of outdoor programs and to the Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT). Reb serves on the Board of Directors for the Student Conservation Association, the Accreditation Council of the Association for Experiential Education (AEE), and as a member of the Wilderness Risk Managers’ Committee. Reb is also on the Risk Management Committee of Outward Bound International. Reb counsels numerous organizations throughout the country on legal and liability issues.