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Professional Liability
The U.S. liability system has evolved in a way that benefits neither plaintiffs nor defendants, rewards outrageous claims, increases the cost of doing business in the U.S., and misdirects national focus away from production to activities that merely transfer wealth.
Engineers are exposed to a heavy risk of liability because they design, build, and operate the plants, products, infrastructure, and processes of our technological society. The exponential growth in litigation against businesses and professionals, coupled with excessive and unreasonable jury awards, has led to dramatic increases in insurance premiums, reduced policy coverage, and even outright cancellation of professional liability insurance coverage.
Additionally, members of engineering societies providing volunteer services to those societies can be subjected to unreasonable and unmerited civil suits.
AAES endorses and encourages implementation of professional liability reforms at the state and federal level and the passage of uniform laws that protect the actions of volunteers.
Policy Objectives
- Encourage the adoption of federal tort reform legislation which provides uniform federal standards for all professional liability
- Support quality, cost-effective approaches to highway construction, but, under our current system of highway construction, oppose the use of warranties to achieve these desirable goals
- Encourage the application of a fault-based (negligence) standard, rather than strict liability, to determine a defendant's liability in product liability cases
- Encourage courts to hold each defendant liable only for the amount of damages assessed to that particular defendant in direct proportion to such defendant's share of the responsibility
- Encourage courts to apply punitive damages only in cases where there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant willfully and flagrantly disregarded public safety
Society Statements
ASCE
IEEE-USA