I understand there are those that say I am beating a dead horse, but I never think of new knowledge as worthless. I found this article and I think it addresses some concerns about the standard of care issue and how it could effect each person.

There is something characteristically American about a trade association. Trade associations embody our natural tendency, as a nation, to advance the common good in association with one another, as a community of interest. Under the umbrella of the trade association, natural competitors join forces to advance worthwhile goals and to learn from one another by sharing information. By communicating in the forum of the trade association, industries routinely provide themselves and the public with a wide array of beneficial services. Trade associations gather important information; they conduct and coordinate research and testing; they sponsor educational programs and facilitate communication with the public; they give member companies a stronger and more effective voice in legislative, regulatory and judicial arenas; and they often develop industry “standards” which provide guidelines or requirements for the activities of members to help minimize various risks and to foster public confidence.

Increasingly, however, these cooperative efforts are providing the plaintiffs’ bar with new opportunities to advance damage claims against businesses. Collaborative standard-setting can be fraught with difficulty both for associations and their member companies. Standards developed by collaborating competitors may run afoul of the antitrust laws unless their procompetitive effects are substantial. Standards developed through trade associations could also create or enhance liability in tort for the member company or for the association itself. An accepted industry standard generally reflects the collective knowledge of the industry with respect to a product or activity. An industry-created standard may be offered by a plaintiff as a “standard of care” that should have been followed by a member company or it may be used to demonstrate the defective nature of a member company’s product. A standard which is developed by an association for the good of the public and for the guidance of member companies could also be offered as evidence of negligence on the part of the association itself, giving plaintiffs a theory to sue the association as well as the member company.

The entire article can be found at [www.crowell.com]