Rethinking Software Process: The Key to Negligence Liability

The risk of negligence liability can be considerably reduced by application of basic legal concepts early in the development lifecycle. The costs of preparing and defending a suit can be considerably reduced as well. This paper develops a simple model for integration of these considerations into the development process. The model stresses the following: 1. early consideration of process constraints derived from negligence law; 2. explicit consideration of such constraints during the development process; and, 3. documentation of all significant tradeoffs that is traceable to key constraints.