Question about a 'standard' indemnity clause my lawyer friend flagged

My lawyer friend insisted I push back on a vendor's 'standard' indemnity clause that would have made my small business cover their legal fees for ANY third-party claim, even if they were at fault, and after a six-month negotiation they finally agreed to a mutual, fault-based version that saved me from a potential $15,000 liability last quarter.

3 comments

3 Comments

owens.laura18d ago

Good call listening to your friend. How do people even get away with putting stuff like that in a contract? It's wild that you had to fight for six months just to get to a normal, fair deal. That original clause was a total trap... glad you dodged it. Those "standard" forms are never as harmless as they want you to think.

bell.jessica17d ago

Honestly that "standard forms" thing reminds me of when @the_eric got a lease with a crazy cleaning fee buried on page eight.

the_eric18d ago

Yeah, the part about "normal, fair deal" really hits home. It's crazy how often those "standard" forms are stacked against the little guy from the start. You end up spending so much time and stress just to get back to a basic level of fair play. Good on you for sticking it out for those six months, even though that's way too long to fix something that shouldn't have been in there to begin with.