Indemnification

“Indemnify From” Versus “Indemnify For”

Another of the speakers at last week’s CLE session in Boise organized by the Idaho State Bar (see this post) was Brian Buckham, of IDACORP, Inc. and Idaho Power Company. Brian told me about a basic issue relating to indemnification language that I hadn’t thought of previously, and he was kind enough to follow up with a couple of citations. … Read More

Another Benefit of Indemnification?

This post includes a list of ways in which indemnification can benefit a party bringing a claim. Here, in a spirit of completeness, is another one, suggested by a reader: Ensure Losses Aren’t Covered by a Provision Excluding Certain Types of Damages. Asking to be indemnified for losses incurred due to nonparty claims constitutes a claim under the contract. That would … Read More

Revisiting “Indemnify”

[Adjusted 4:30 p.m. EDT, July 28, 2012, to implement the recommendations made by A. Wright Burke in his comment; revised 7:00 a.m. EDT, July 31, 2012, to overhaul the section on indemnify and hold harmless; revised August 13, 2012, to add paragraph “Recover for External Events or Circumstances”.] Over the past four years I’ve considered indemnification in half a dozen … Read More

An Alternative to Indemnification Language for Confidentiality Agreements

It’s time that I tidied up one loose end. In this recent post, I proposed indemnification language to include in a confidentiality agreement in order to say who is responsible for liabilities resulting from disclosure of confidential information by representatives of the recipient. I thought that the new language would make it clear that when bringing a claim for indemnification … Read More

Does Indemnification Cover Only Losses from Nonparty Claims?

Is there no end to the confusion prompted by the verb indemnify? Recently in this post and this post I considered how a claim for indemnification relates to a claim for contract damages. In the first of those posts, reader Gord offered the following comment: Canadian lawyers when using indemnification language in contracts have had to consider and contend with an Alberta case … Read More

Indemnification: Glenn West Wades In!

Longtime readers of my blogging will know that I’m an unabashed fan of the work of Glenn West, a partner at Weil Gotshal. His articles on extra-contractual liability (click here for a copy) and on consequential damages (click here for a copy) are essential resources. And Glenn usefully chimed in on that burning issue, represents and warrants. (See this September … Read More

Indemnification: A Misunderstood Concept

[Updated 3:00 p.m. EST, January 10, 2011: In this post, I propose revised indemnification language. I’ll chew over whether still to offer as an option in Koncision’s confidentiality agreement the alternative language I offer below.] [Updated 9:50 a.m. EST January 7, 2011: The question of how the elements of a claim for indemnification relate to the elements of a claim … Read More

Revisiting “Indemnify and Hold Harmless”

[Updated April 17, 2013: For my more recent take on this, see this July 2012 post.] In MSCD 12.134 and in these blog posts, I recommend that you rid your contracts of the phrase indemnify and hold harmless. Most lawyers unthinkingly use indemnify and hold harmless as synonyms. And I’ve found that lawyers who instead think those concepts can be … Read More

“Indemnitor” and “Indemnitee”

In an exchange of emails this evening, my correspondent inadvertently used “indemnitor” when he meant “indemnitee.” It’s in order to avoid just such confusion that I recommend in MSCD 1.72 that you not use as defined terms for party names any paired defined terms that differ only in their final syllable, such as Mortgagor and Mortgagee. Given that one uses … Read More

When an “Indemnified Party” Isn’t an Indemnified Party

It’s been a couple of months since I looked through recent opinions. It’s time for me to get back into the habit of doing so, because all sorts of interesting issues crop up. Consider Moore v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 30480 (N.D. Miss. Mar. 31, 2008). It bears on how you create the defined term Indemnified Party. … Read More