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Simple English definitions for legal terms
industry-wide liability
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A quick definition of industry-wide liability:
Industry-wide liability is when all companies in a particular industry are held responsible for any harm caused by their products, based on their market share. This means that each company is liable for a portion of the damages, proportional to their share of the market. Liability is the legal responsibility for something, either in terms of legal obligation or financial debt. It can be based on fault or strict liability, and can be shared jointly and severally or individually.
A more thorough explanation:
Industry-wide liability refers to the legal responsibility of all members of an industry for manufacturing a harmful or defective product. This liability is allotted by each manufacturer's market share of the industry. It is also known as enterprise liability.
For example, if several companies produce a product that causes harm to consumers, each company is held liable for the harm caused based on their market share of the industry. This means that each company is responsible for paying damages to the affected consumers.
Another example is the market-share liability theory, which is a type of industry-wide liability. This theory applies when a plaintiff cannot trace the harmful exposure to a particular product, as when several products contain a fungible substance. For instance, if a plaintiff is harmed by exposure to asbestos, and it is difficult to determine which company's asbestos caused the harm, each company that produced asbestos is held liable based on their market share of the industry.