Webinar: Equine Liability Laws and Exposures -- What Every Horse Professional Needs to Know in 2026
Equine Liability Laws and Exposures - What Every Horse Professional Needs to Know In 2026
Date: January 12. 2026
Time: 11:00 am Pacific - 1:00 pm Central - 2:00 pm Eastern
Place: Your phone or computer
Speaker: Julie I. Fershtman, Attorney at Law
As a horse professional, the practical responsibility of keeping both the riders and horses in your care safe rests firmly on your shoulders. What's more, this means that your legal responsibilities are not far behind.
This means, you can't afford to be uninformed about equine liability laws and how they are currently being interpreted by the courts. Use this webinar to help you get up-to-date!
Our guest speaker will be nationally renowned equine law expert Julie Fershtman.
Some of the issues that Ms. Fershtman will cover include:
- Equine Activity Liability Acts
Better gauge your actual protection and adjust your practices and paperwork accordingly. - Negligence vs. Liability
Where is the line and why does it matter? - Liability Waivers/Releases
What can be "signed away" and what can't. One area of exposure may surprise you. - Equipment Safety and Helmet Laws
This is a key area to consider both in day-to-day operations and in your contracts.
- Sign Posting
How it differs from state to state and what to look out for. - Recent and Relevant Cases
You'll hear real life examples that will help you contextualize the topic in ways that make it relevant for your horse business. - Q&A
Ask questions and get answers during the live session.
This live webinar is free to all equine professionals but you must register to attend. If you have employees, assistant instructors etc., we encourage you to have them attend. How your team manages liability affects the security of your whole business.
Please use the registration form below. We encourage you to invite your friends who are in the horse business by sharing a link to this page.
Note: The replay is available for 48 hours to all registrants and then moves to our extensive members only horse business webinar library.
Julie I. Fershtman is an Equity Shareholder with the Michigan law firm of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC. She is highly experienced in handling a wide variety of equine industry disputes through litigation and alternative dispute resolution (arbitration, mediation). She also drafts contracts involving numerous types of transactions with the goal of helping her clients avoid disputes. She is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading Equine Law practitioners. Her expertise also includes business litigation, fraud litigation, property disputes, and insurance litigation.
A lawyer for 39 years, she has achieved numerous courtroom victories and tried cases before juries in 4 states. She has served as out-of-state (pro hac vice) counsel on lawsuits in 21 jurisdictions. Her professional distinctions also include being selected by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as its “Woman of the Year” (2016); recipient of ABA's “Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award” (2017); listed in The Best Lawyers in America, ® 2013-2026 (Commercial Litigation, Insurance Law); listed in the “Top 100 Lawyers in Michigan” and “Top 50 Women Lawyers in Michigan” by Michigan Super Lawyers.®
The author of four Equine Law books, her two most recent books are Equine Law and Horse Sense, which was published by the American Bar Association in 2019, and won four national book awards; and Litigating Animal Law Disputes: A Complete Guide for Lawyers (co-author/co-editor). She is also author of more than 425 published articles on Equine Law.
Her speaking engagements on Equine Law span 29 states. Active in lawyer associations, she is a past president of the 45,000-member State Bar of Michigan.
www.equinelaw.net
www.equinelawblog.com – Julie's Equine Law Blog
www.fershtmanlaw.com
www.fosterswift.com
https://www.facebook.com/
