Quote from one of the wittiest and most accurate books about our business I have ever read - "Bluff your way on the Flight-Deck" by Capt Ken Beere:-
"The Loadsheet. This legal document details the way in which the aeroplane has been loaded - passengers, luggage, freight and fuel. The information it contains determines the total weight of the aicraft at take-off and shows whether the aircraft is in trim. The aircraft cannot leave until the captain agrees the figures and signs it.
That the captain cannot possibly know whether the information is correct but must sign it anyway if he wishes to take off is one of those quirks of the system which he has learned to accept.
A good Queen's Council keeps this nugget of information so that if he is ever engaged in litigation of a flying nature he can get the captain weeping at the unfairness of life with his very first question"
How very, very true! - Now that's the stuff the Air-Law textbooks should tell you before you start out in this game!