In Re: Indiana State Fair Litigation, Mid-America Sound Corporation v. Indiana State Fair Commission, Jill Polet

RUSH, Chief Justice.

Indiana courts strictly construe contracts to indemnify a party against its own negligence — recognizing that a party would not lightly accept liability for someone else’s negligence. Thus, indemnity clauses must state the parties’ intent to indemnify to clear and unequivocal language. Otherwise, we will not find a knowing and willing agreement to indemnify. And the need for explicit language is especially important when an agreement involves retroactive indemnity — since even in insurance contracts, where indemnity is the central purpose, we presume that insurers would…