The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania granted a partial summary judgment to an energy client in a contractual indemnification dispute.
Represented by Chair and Member of the Energy Group Matthew G. Brouse and Associate Jennifer L. Beresky, the Burns White client was a co-defendant in a personal injury lawsuit where the plaintiff sustained injuries while performing work for one company on a well site that was owned and operated by the Burns White client. A cross-claim was filed by the co-defendant for common law contribution and indemnification, as well as contractual indemnification. In response, Burns White filed a motion to dismiss the contractual indemnification count, asserting that our client was not required to indemnify for personal injury claims made by subcontractors as stated in the master service agreement and filed a crossclaim for breach of contract. In the end, the court granted our client’s motion for partial summary judgment requiring the co-defendant to cover all legal costs and cost of settlement.
Note: The results obtained in a particular case are heavily dependent on the facts and the law specific to that case.