I think so but don't have any recall of what the limits would have been. This happened in 1971; I was a graduate student at the time and really poor. My wife and I had a 9-month-old son and were really struggling. We carried renters homeowners/liability insurance and I think the insurer would have covered had the need arisen. Fortunately, I never had to find out for sure. My brother, a California attorney, was advising me about the issue. He was not licensed in Washington but knew enough about Washington law to keep me from doing something stupid. He accompanied me to the deposition but never had to interfere in my testimony. He did coach me beforehand.


I don't really know why they wanted to sue me. I sure didn't have deep pockets; I barely had pockets at all. I think there were two factors: First, they were hurting and wanted to blame someone other than their son for this; Second, I think that they encountered an attorney who might have smelled a contingency fee here. In the discovery documents to which I had to respond there were questions regarding my net worth (ha), income (ha again) and insurance. I think my deposition testimony showed that I was not a first-aider run amok but was a reasonably well qualified medic with considerable training and experience in dealing with field trauma. I think I was also able to convince the family attorney that the young man was lucky I came along when I did. And, fortunately for me, I had qualified medical backup in my emergency medical physician acquaintance. Moreover, the young man's girl friend was in a position to corroborate my testimony. She would not support the family in the suit in any way.

Frankly, I think I was lucky with this whole mess: being sued certainly did not reinforce my faith in human nature. I was in the process of finishing my dissertation and did not need this sort of distraction.