The three areas to consider are state law protection, internal policies and insurance. State and Federal Law Protection. President Clinton recently signed the Volunteer Protection Act of 1997. The new law gives volunteers a degree of protection from civil liability. This act was designed to help reduce the cost of liability insurance and protect volunteers from lawsuits in which no law was broken or there was no misconduct.
States can opt out of the law if legislatures restore state laws on civil liability for volunteers.
Before this act was signed, every state and the District of Columbia had at least one law limiting the liability of some types of volunteers. The laws varied widely from state to state as to what types of volunteers were covered and what conditions must exist for the protection to apply. In other states, the laws apply to any tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Still other laws limit the scope of protection by stating certain conditions that must be met, such as specific level of safety training or a specific amount and level of insurance coverage. But many laws are written with specific exceptions.