I then present the framework for a preventive law plan to minimize the risk of punitive damage awards. The Cases Before discussing the individual cases, it is important to note the difficulty of teasing engineering facts out of legal cases. Most cases are tried in state courts. The decisions of state trial courts are not published. The only published materials are the state appellate court opinions.
Appellate opinions are limited to legal issues.
They only recite the engineering facts as necessary to frame the legal issues. When the engineering facts are stated, they often are garbled by a technologically unsophisticated judge or law clerk. The courts lack of technological sophistication makes legal opinions a poor basis for engineering standards. Yet these technologically unsophisticated decision makers determine the standards for liability. Technologically sound engineering practices that contradict lay expectations can lead to substantial liability.