Indemnity

Proof that New York’s Labor Law is Broken

Project owners, contractors, subcontractors and insurers would all agree – the New York Labor Law is an unreasonable transfer of safety risk away from those who are most responsible for safety. Only the plaintiffs’ bar would disagree. We now have… Read More
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Sloppy Drafting Needlessly Extends Litigation

A crane operator was tragically killed when a beam being hoisted by the crane crashed onto the top of the cab. The beam fell because the sling selected for the load was inadequate. The sling had been selected by workers for the steel erection company… Read More
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Duty to Defend Enforceable Even if Duty to Indemnify is Unresolved

A Connecticut court, applying plain language in a subcontract, has held that the sub must defend the general contractor in an injured worker lawsuit, even if the sub’s obligation to indemnify the GC is not yet established. The worker was employed b… Read More
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Rental Agreement Indemnity – A Setback for Rental Companies

Readers of this blog know that the terms and conditions in equipment rental agreements favor the rental company. Those agreements typically have one-sided indemnity clauses, on the basis that the rental company expects the renting contractor to carry… Read More
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Inherent Limitations in Some Anti-Indemnity Laws

A majority of states have enacted anti-indemnity laws in various forms, protecting subcontractors (in most states with such laws) and prime contractors (in a lesser number of states) from overbroad indemnity clauses. But some clauses target sectors o… Read More
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Subcontractor Indemnity Did Not Cover Claim Arising from Contractor Decision

A subcontractor was obligated to provide experienced workers, and the GC had the right to tell the sub to remove anyone without the requisite experience. The sub’s workforce included a woman without any prior experience with the rebar bending machi… Read More
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Unsigned Contract = No Proper Insurance Coverage

File this one under “Oops.” The unsigned contract meant that the contractual liability exclusion in the subcontractor’s insurance policy would control, since there was no obligation “assumed in a contract or agreement . . . [where the claim]… Read More
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When the Indemnity Names the Wrong Entity

It’s a problem. Per the court: “Just as ‘Ten’ is not ‘Twenty,’ a ‘corporation’ cannot mean ‘a limited partnership.'” So a surety who obtained an indemnity agreement for claims arising from bonds… Read More
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Indemnity Obligation Typically Includes Attorneys’ Fees

The “American rule” in litigation is that each party must pay its own legal fees, absent a contract or statutory right to recover the same from another party. But the nature of an indemnity is one where legal fees incurred by the indemnitee shoul… Read More
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Indemnity Obligation Can Arise Even Without Negligence

The scope of an express indemnity obligation comes from the indemnity clause. If the indemnity is for claims “arising out of or in connection with” the indemnitor’s work, there is no need to prove that the indemnitor was negligent. That is the… Read More
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