Maine's highest court enforces releases of negligence for voluntary recreation when the release clearly says that's what it does, and it has even enforced a clause making a signer who sued anyway pay the business's legal fees. This guide is for Maine businesses that ask guests to sign: ski and bike events, outfitters, raceways, gyms, camps, stables and rentals. It covers electronic signatures, how the Law Court reads releases, the rule for children, and the activity laws that call for signed or posted warnings.
This guide is general information about Maine law, with links to the statutes and cases, so you and your attorney can look into anything that applies to your business.
The short answer. Maine courts generally enforce a clearly written release of negligence for voluntary recreation, and electronic signatures count the same as ink. The release has to spell out, with "the greatest particularity," that it covers the business's own negligence. Maine's high court has said a parent can't release a child's claims, but the parent's form still records consent, rules, medical information and the parent's own acknowledgment of the risks.
Waiver Law in Maine at a Glance
| Electronic signatures | Valid under Maine's Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (10 M.R.S. 9401 et seq.) and the federal ESIGN Act. |
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| Waivers of negligence | Enforced when they expressly spell out, "with the greatest particularity," the intent to release negligence (Hardy v. St. Clair; Lloyd v. Sugarloaf). General "no responsibility" wording failed (Doyle v. Bowdoin College). |
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| Gross negligence and intentional harm | No Law Court ruling found on releases of reckless or intentional conduct. Most courts elsewhere refuse to enforce them. |
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| Parents signing for minors | Not treated as binding on the child. A footnote in Doyle (1979) says "a parent, or guardian, cannot release the child's" cause of action, and a 2000 trial court refused to enforce a parent's ski-lesson release. |
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| Activity laws to know | Equine activities (7 M.R.S. 4103-A, notice by signed statement or sign) and skiing (32 M.R.S. 15217, posted warning required). |
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Are Electronic Signatures Legal in Maine?
Yes. Maine adopted the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act as Public Law 1999, chapter 762. Under 10 M.R.S. 9407, an electronic record or signature may not be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, and an electronic signature satisfies any law that requires a signature. The federal ESIGN Act (15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq.) applies the same rule nationally. A waiver signed on a phone or a tablet at your front desk counts as signed.
Are Liability Waivers Enforceable in Maine?
Yes, when they are written clearly enough. Maine's Supreme Judicial Court (sitting as the Law Court) has said that releases protecting a party from its own negligence are not against public policy, though courts read them with "a heightened degree of judicial scrutiny."
Releases the Court Has Enforced
- Hardy v. St. Clair, 1999 ME 142, 739 A.2d 368. A pit crew member at Wiscasset Raceway signed a "Release and Waiver of Liability, Assumption of Risk and Indemnity Agreement" that released claims "whether caused by the negligence of the releasees or otherwise." When bleachers collapsed under him, the release barred his negligence claim. It did not bar his wife's separate loss of consortium claim, which she had not signed away.
- Lloyd v. Sugarloaf Mountain Corp., 2003 ME 117, 833 A.2d 1. A mountain biker hurt during a mandatory practice run before a race at Sugarloaf had signed a membership release that expressly covered "any negligence" of the organizers. The court enforced it, rejected his public policy argument, and noted that a race called the "Widowmaker Challenge" was hardly a public service. It also enforced a clause making him pay the defendants' legal fees for suing despite the release (three justices dissented on that fee issue).
What Failed: General Wording
In Doyle v. Bowdoin College, 403 A.2d 1206 (Me. 1979), a boy was hurt at a college hockey clinic. His parents had signed forms saying the college would "accept no responsibility" for injuries and that they assumed "all risk of injury." The court held those forms were not releases of negligence: a release absolving a defendant of its own negligence must "expressly spell out 'with the greatest particularity' the intention of the parties contractually to extinguish negligence liability."
Public Policy
In Lloyd, the court reviewed the factors other states use to void recreational releases (whether the activity is a public service, whether the business controls the hazards, and so on) and declined to overturn its earlier decisions upholding releases. For voluntary recreation in Maine, the cases have turned on the wording rather than public policy.
Gross Negligence and Intentional Harm
We did not find a Law Court decision deciding whether a Maine release can cover reckless or intentional conduct. Courts in most states will not enforce a release for that kind of conduct, and the fee clause upheld in Lloyd itself carved out "wilful and wanton negligence."
Waivers for Minors in Maine
The Law Court decided Doyle on the wording of the forms, but it added in a footnote that even if the documents had been releases, the result would not change, because "a parent, or guardian, cannot release the child's or ward's, cause of action," citing its earlier decisions. In Rice v. American Skiing Co. (Me. Super. Ct. 2000), a trial court reportedly refused to enforce a mother's explicit release for her nine-year-old's ski lesson and let the mother's own related claim go forward. We did not find a Maine decision enforcing a parent's release of a child's claims.
For youth programs, the parent's form still matters: it records that a parent approved the child's participation, agreed to your rules, gave medical and emergency information, and acknowledged the risks.
More Than a Release
A signed Maine agreement does more than release claims:
- Equine notice. In a suit against an equine professional, the 7 M.R.S. 4103-A defense applies only if the rider knew the risks, said they had enough experience to know them, or was notified. A statement signed by the rider is one of the two ways the statute allows notice to be given.
- A legal fee clause. Lloyd enforced a clause making a signer who sued despite the release pay the defendants' legal fees, though three justices disagreed on that point.
- A record of the warnings. A signed list of the activity's risks and your rules is evidence of what each guest was told. How much it matters depends on the facts.
- Every adult's own agreement. Hardy shows a release binds the person who signs it, so many businesses have each adult in a group sign their own form.
- Medical information and consent. Health conditions, emergency contacts, consent to treatment and photo consent, collected before the activity.
Maine Activity Laws
- Equine activities (7 M.R.S. 4103-A). Sponsors and professionals are not liable for injuries from the inherent risks of equine activities, with exceptions such as faulty tack, known latent dangers, recklessness and intentional harm. Notice can be a statement signed by the rider or a posted sign stating: "Under Maine law, an equine professional has limited liability for an injury or death resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities."
- Skiing (32 M.R.S. 15217). Skiers accept the inherent risks of skiing as a matter of law and can't recover from the ski area for them. The ski area must post the statutory warning where lift tickets and ski school lessons are sold and at each lift loading point, whatever its release says.
Points to Raise With Your Attorney
WaiverFile doesn't draft waivers, and the wording of your agreement is a job for you and your attorney. Based on the cases above, these are points worth raising when preparing a Maine agreement:
- How the release refers to negligence. The releases enforced in Hardy and Lloyd referred specifically to the defendants' negligence. The court in Doyle faulted forms that only said the college accepted "no responsibility."
- The title and key statements. The Hardy court noted a form titled as a release and waiver of liability, with a capitalized statement that the signer understood he was giving up substantial rights.
- Scope. In both Hardy and Lloyd, the injury happened next to the main event (in the pit bleachers, on a practice run), and the courts asked whether the release language reached it.
- Who signs. Hardy shows a spouse's own claim may survive unless that person signs too.
- Families and equine notice. How your family form and your equine notice should read.
How WaiverFile Helps Maine Businesses
Once your agreement is written, WaiverFile makes it easy for every guest to sign it and keeps a complete, easy-to-find record of each one:
- Your agreement, laid out your way. Add the agreement text you and your attorney prepared, and use the editor's formatting options (bold, capitals, font size) to lay it out the way it was written. The wording and format are up to you.
- A checkbox or initials where you want them. Add initial boxes inside the agreement text and required checkboxes for the rules, risks and clauses you choose, so each one has its own acknowledgment.
- Every adult can sign. Spouses, partners and each adult in a group can sign their own form.
- A record of what was signed. Each signed form stores the signature, the answers, and the date and time, plus the IP address and device for online signing. Add a photo of each signer or their ID if you like.
- Experience and medical questions. Required questions capture riding experience, health conditions and emergency contacts before guests arrive. HIPAA features add extra protection for health information.
- Families on one form. A parent adds each child by name and date of birth, and minors are flagged at check-in.
- Sign anywhere. Guests sign ahead by email, text, QR code or your website, or on a tablet at the lodge, and the Venue app works offline. Waivers are built into online booking, so you see each guest's status at check-in.
- Records you can produce. Search any waiver in seconds, or download them in bulk as a ZIP file for any date range.
Start with our generic waiver template, adapt it for Maine with your attorney, and set up a free account to start collecting signatures.
Sources and Further Reading
General information, not legal advice. WaiverFile is not a law firm, and this article is not legal advice. Laws change and courts decide each case on its own facts, so have a local attorney review your waiver.
Published December 31, 2020 · Updated November 4, 2026