"Until we have tort reform, anyone can be sued for anything," says Maria Moreno, Program Manager for Huntington T. Block Insurance Agency, Inc., Washington, DC. "Lawsuits can allege any number of damages and name all parties. Then it's up to a judge or jury to determine responsibility."

In such a litigious environment, where liability claims and lawsuits pop up like daisies in a spring meadow, show managers have to know how to protect against risk and demonstrate due diligence by doing everything possible to ensure public safety.

"It's simply a matter of conducting business to the nth degree," says Steven Fletcher, Exposition Attorney at the law firm of Zander & Fletcher in Burbank, CA. A specialist in the legal aspects of consumer and trade show management for 18 years, Fletcher cautions show managers that the litigation and claims situation is too drastic to assume that they can conduct business as usual. Risk management is no longer an option; it's a necessity.

"Facility contracts are so broadly written that anything that happens in a building is the show manager's responsibility," says Tom Kornelis, Account Executive at Pettit-Morry Company, insurance brokers in Seattle specializing in trade shows and special events.

Where should the show manager's responsibility end and the facility's begin? "The easy answer is that the show manager's responsible for everything inside the leased premises; and the facility's responsible for all common use areas, such as bathrooms, hallways and concession stands," says Jack Buttine of John Buttine, Inc., show insurance specialists in New York City. "However, the real answer is in the wording of the facility's lease agreement and indemnity clause."

To protect themselves, show managers need to go over their contracts with an attorney or insurance agent and look for ways to shift liability back to the facility. Joan Zimmerman, President of Southern Shows in Charlotte, NC, says, "When we get a lease agreement from a facility, we read it word for word to see what type of liability they're placing on us. We have our insurance agent go through the agreement, then talk to the facility's insurance agent."

Before anything is set in a building, Southern Shows' manager walks through the leased area with a facility representative. "We try to do preventive maintenance -- and we definitely negotiate," Zimmerman says.

Basic risk management starts long before you sign that facility contract. To take charge of risk from the get go, show managers should take these steps:

1. Identify all risks (exposures to loss).
2. Determine the risks you will retain, for which you buy insurance.
3. Identify risks you can't insure (not everything is insurable), but make a business decision to retain.
4. From the balance, determine which risks can be contractually transferred to others.

There are also unique risks associated with each phase of a show. For example, the potential for injury is heightened by the hectic activities of show move in and move out. Show managers need to beware: the law in most states specifies that employees who collect worker's compensation for job-related injuries cannot then sue their employers. But, they aren't precluded from suing third parties. That means show management can be liable for their subcontractors' job-related injuries.

"Show managers are getting hit with lawsuits by decorators' employees who have been injured on the job," says Jon H. Pease, insurance broker and consultant who handles The Freeman Companies account at the Dallas, TX agency of Holmes, Murphy & Associates. "There's a rising tide of these types of lawsuits nationwide. The industry is trying to find a solution that will protect general contractors as well as show managers."

Still other factors have to be considered when assessing risk for consumer shows. "The public has a different attitude and mind set than persons attending an industry event," says attorney Fletcher, who also has helped produce over 40 major consumer shows. "For one thing, they're trying to see the overall event, so the flow of traffic is of greater concern, as is signage."

The fact that the public pays to attend consumer shows tends to increase the standard of care in the eyes of the court. The show manager has a greater duty to protect the public, making consumer shows a more exacting operation.

"Before we open," says Southern Shows' Zimmerman, "we walk through with a building person to identify potential hazards and get them fixed. Then, each morning before opening, the show manager walks the show to check for unsafe conditions. Our show managers spend 90 percent of their time on the show floor."

Potential hazards to be on the alert for include:

• Booths with protruding objects
• Booths containing items which, if they fell, could cause injury
• Booth rails that have been partially dismantled to allow attendees to pass through
• Anything overhead, such as signage, which could fall or be bumped into
• Electrical wires not properly taped down or covered
• Carpets inadequately taped or with bumps that can cause tripping
• Freestanding pipe, drape or hardwall not secured to prevent toppling, should someone lean against them
• Samples handed out by exhibitors that could cause injury or illness (especially foodstuffs not properly stored or handled)
• Trash or spills in the show aisles
• Emergency exits blocked or fire extinguishers covered, making them inaccessible

Do you allow animals at your show? Consider this incident which happened a few years ago, ironically, at an insurance show:

An exhibitor hired a well-known zookeeper to display animals and birds in his booth to attract visitors. During the show, a hawk escaped, landed on a woman's head, dug its claws into her hair and cut her forehead. Then, the bird flew off -- with her wig. The woman sued the exhibitor not only for pain and suffering caused by the injury but also for the humiliation of her bald head being shown to the world -- TV cameras were rolling during the incident.

"The show manager has primary responsibility for what the exhibitor brings to the booth," says Moreno at Huntington T. Block. "It's a matter of controlling any possible areas of risk and using due diligence to prevent a public hazard."

Unfortunately, rules alone don't prevent risk. "If you have show rules and don't enforce them, you've created additional risk for yourself," says insurance consultant Pease. "I would say that's probably the most common show risk of all -- negligent enforcement of contractual rules."

For those identified risks you retain by contract, statute or common law (such as negligence), buy commercial general liability insurance to protect your company's assets. It covers your office year-round; and you can add endorsements for shows, facilities, contractors or other entities that require being named as additional insureds.

Buttine advises producers of multiple shows to make sure their policy limit of liability is applied separately to each show. A single limit of liability covering all shows could be wiped out by just one claim.

The market for the insurance industry continues to be soft. Buttine predicts for 1996, however, rates will go up because there are fewer players. Less than five insurance carriers (standard, not specialty, companies) are underwriting shows. They're backing out, he says, because of too many claims.

"The show manager has to build a relationship -- a partnership -- with the carrier. Over time, you're less likely to be dropped."

By becoming a better risk manager, show management becomes a better risk for insurers.