Knock-for-Knock Indemnities and the Law

Book excerpt: This book examines contractual limitation, principles and practice through the use of knock-for-knock indemnity clauses. In using such clauses, the parties agree that for certain forms of potential liability – typically property damage, personal injury to employees, and sometimes other heads of claim such as consequential loss – any loss arising will be absorbed by the party who suffers it: "you look after your losses, I’ll look after mine." It is an apparently simple, pragmatic and neat solution to the question of who bears liability: a risk allocation model so straightforward that it was described by one experienced English judge, Honorable Mr. Justice Morison, as "crude". A specialist contributor team of international experts, examine the origin, application and effect of these clauses in important jurisdictions, their impact in different industries such as oil & gas, shipping, construction and insurance, through the lenses of both economic and legal analyses. The book is of use for lawyers, economists and businesspeople who draft, negotiates or manage contracts in all industries where liability is dealt with in this way. It is also of interest to students, academics, and policy makers.