Ask the Lawyer: Is my backyard pool a liability?

Q: We now have a pool, completed in time for summer. There is a fence between our yard and our neighbor. The neighbor has a young child. We take a lot of precautions, but if something happened, the kid sneaks in and gets hurt, is that on us?
-D.H., Rancho Palos Verdes
Ron Sokol
A: As of January 2018, newly permitted California pool owners are required by law to install at least two specific safety measures (whether the pool is new or remodeled). This is per the California Pool Safety Act: (a) An