Recently, a contracting company asked one of my corporate clients to draft up a hold harmless agreement to protect them from any claims that may result from subcontractor negligence. Simple enough. But upon reading an “example” of what the contracting company wanted my client to do, I shook my head and read it again. Basically, and this was written very cleverly so that a layperson may not catch it, they wanted my client to hold them harmless if they (the contracting company) broke the law. Thinking this was as fishy as Wahoo Stew, I researched Florida law (where the contracting company and project were located) and lo and behold: the deal they wanted to do could involve an illegal subcontract, a misdemeanor first offense and felony second offense! I quickly pointed that out to my client and prepared a draft putting all the liability on them. Hey, if you break the law, you pay the consequences, not my client. Just another reason to not only read, but understand the contracts you are about to sign!
Leave a Reply