In a noteworthy decision, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has offered guidance on contractual and implied indemnity claims. This is in context of a case involving a design engineer, WW Consultants, and Pocahontas County Public Service District (“Pocahontas County”).
The details of the case relate to a wastewater treatment plant project that WW Consultants was working on for Pocahontas County. Construction of the plant was bid out to three separate contractors by Pocahontas County.
In a recent landmark turn, the Supreme Court of Appeals issued a judgment which both reversed and affirmed certain parts of a lower court’s decision with regards to the dismissal of contractual indemnity and implied indemnity claims.
Implied indemnity is a form of protection one party has over another by virtue of a special relationship or contract between them. Contractual indemnity, on the other hand, involves a contractual agreement between two parties, where one party agrees to compensate the other for certain damages or liabilities.
This new guidance provided by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals brings valuable precedents and lessons to the complex world of contractual and implied indemnity claims, and is something that all legal practitioners should be aware of.
For further reading, please see the case analysis posted on the website of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP
here.
This news brief is a generalized summary of a complex legal issue and should not be seen as legal advice for any specific case or legal situation.