This is the first of a series of articles that will discuss some legal aspects of the protection, automation and control world. In recent years, the electric power industry has been going through substantial changes caused by numerous factors, including deregulation, system operation close to stability limits, various natural disasters, the increased sensitivity of manufacturing facilities to voltage variations, lack of knowledge and experience and many more. The numerous blackouts throughout the world, accompanied by a number of large scale lawsuits, have brought to the forefront the increasingly important issue of the legal consequences that would face protection, control and automation professionals, in the event of yet another significant loss of power, affecting a massive amount of power consumers. More