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Bioethics has been included in research portion of nursing curricula for at least two decades. Within the United States and its territories, as society has become increasingly disenchanted with poor research practices, federal legislation has moved errors in research judgment from ethical issues to legal mandates. Few nurses have had sufficient education in protecting themselves and their subjects in the legal arena. This portion of the symposium will focus on the avoidance of ordinary negligence and gross negligence which may result in civil or criminal consequences.