Illinois used to have a standard form of waived liability for protection of landowners but it was ruled unconstitutional when somebody's kid got hurt sledding and the guy sued. The new way things were interpreted was that if you gave no permission you at least had some protection but if you gave permission to one person you were liable for all people, hence the reluctance of many landowners to give any permission.. The Farm Bureau and Ag newspapers published a bunch of stories about it last year and it scared off a lot of farmers from giving permission. And I won't even say what the lawyers and insurance agents will tell you when tou talk to them about it.

If you are looking for someone to blame, don't blame the lawyers.. Blame your neighbors and coworkers who look at these cases as jury members, see a kid with a broken leg and an insurance company/land ownerwith a big bank account and don't care if the lawsuit is baseless or not.