The issue of getting sued by someone because your dog bit them came up this morning when a legal website announced it had published an article specifically about dog bite cases.

I read the article, and one thing that picqued my interest is the subject of the "one-bite" rule. According to the article, some states protect dog owners from fault if it was the first time one of your dogs bit someone:

Another exception occurs in those states that have a "one bite rule" on their books. In those states, the dog owner is not liable for the dog's first bite, unless the dog owner himself caused the bite through negligent, reckless or intentional conduct. If there's a second bite, the dog owner is liable no matter what. About one-third of the states have this rule.

I decided to look up what California says on this issue, since I live in California. I found something in the Civil Code that appears to address dog bite liability:

§3342. (a) The owner of any dog is liable for the damages suffered by any person who is bitten by the dog while in a public place or lawfully in a private place, including the property of the owner of the dog, regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owner's knowledge of such viciousness. A person is lawfully upon the private property of such owner within the meaning of this section when he is on such property in the performance of any duty imposed upon him by the laws of this state or by the laws or postal regulations of the United States, or when he is on such property upon the invitation, express or implied, of the owner.

So, in California dog owners are only relieved of their liability if a person trespassed on your property. In fact, further down into the Civil Code it states that:

§3342.5 (d) Nothing in this section shall authorize the bringing of an action pursuant to subdivision (b) based on a bite or bites inflicted upon a trespasser, or by a dog used in military or police work if the bite or bites occurred while the dog was actually performing in that capacity.

But I didn't see anything about a "one-bite" rule that would relieve liability from a dog owner. The Civil Code does make reference to two or more bites under §3342.5 (b), but this appears to deal with matters of seizing a dog from the owner, or destroying it.

It would be cool to have a document that summarizes these laws in each of the 50 states. But just researching one state can take up some time, and then there is the matter of updating the document everytime a state modifies its laws.