Medical malpractice and product liability litigation is of concern to all professionals in health-care delivery. It should be of special interest to those who hire professionals in the field where there are legal requirements for practice and to the professional so involved. This paper is concerned with the legal requirements for those considered to be engineers and especially for Clinical Engineers.A survey has been made of the State Boards of Professional Engineering in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine the legal requirements for an engineer engaged in improving health-care delivery who may be known as a “Clinical Engineer.” Of the 51 questionnaires mailed, 41 were completed and returned. Several states answered by sending a letter expressing refusal to reply on legalistic grounds. The questionnaire contained six questions that were designed to cover clearly the various areas of Clinical Engineering from medical center employment to independent consulting. The questionnaires returned and the letters from states that did not return the questionnaires indicate that there is a large amount of uncertainty among the state boards as to the relationship between professional engineering registration and the practice of Biomedical Engineering in consultants' offices, medical centers, and manufacturing establishments. There is a definite trend, however, toward the application of engineering registration laws to the various aspects of clinical engineering.