Consultant Idemnification?
I am a consultant looking to do work for a engineering firm. they submitted an agreement which includes an idemnification clause; they would like me to idemnify & hold harmless them & their client ”from any loss, claim, suit, damage, or liability from injury or death of any person, including employees of subcontractor, or damage or destruction of any property arising from or in connection with any act or ommission of subcontractor, its officers, agents or employees. Subcontractor, however, does not assume liability for the negligence of Firm or our Client….”.
Re: Consultant Idemnification?
It means that if you do some work for them and there is a problem for which they are successfully sued and if the problem can be traced to something you did, you pay the damages.
You don’t say, but I think you are doing design work. Be very careful. The statute of limitations does not start to run until someone is hurt or the building falls down. If you make a design error that does not cause problems for twenty years you may be held liable if and when it does. That is what ‘malpractice’ insurance is for.
You do not accept any responsibility for their mistakes.
Walter Palmer
Law Office of Walter Palmer
159 Pamela Drive South
Chicago Heights, IL 60411
Re: Consultant Idemnification?
This is fairly common language that basically says you are responsible if the company gets sued for your mistakes.
If you are concerned about the language in the contract, you might consider having an attorney look it over for you. As long as the contract is relatively short, you will probably be able to get away spending less than $500. If this is a major consulting job for you, it could be worth the money to be sure everything is in order.
Motty Stone
Law Offices of Motty Stone
6207 N Sacramento Ave
Chicago, IL 60659