Product liability: you're more exposed than you think.

You can't escape being sued for product liability. But you can reduce your chances of being slapped with a lawsuit--if you understand how the law regards various circumstances. If you're a manufacturer, for example, you may never achieve zero defects. But you can examine your product's design (and packaging) in light of all possible uses and misuses the product could be put to. Make sure the instructions (or the warning, if it's a product with potential danger) are complete. If you're a distributor or a retailer, you may be unable to escape inclusion in a liability lawsuit alleging injury or death because of a product defect. So you owe it to yourself to know in advance about the quality and potential hazards of the goods you deal in. If a customer knows your product and its characteristics, you may be able to avoid liability in litigation. But you still have the responsibility of focusing resources on eliminating factors likely to cause injury. State laws differ widely, but the sampling of cases in this article, offered by a lawyer, provides universally applicable ideas on limiting liability. INSET: Limit liability via a subsidy?. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]