Wilder Corp. v. Thompson Drainage & Levee District

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

This appeal from the grant of summary-judgment to the defendant in a diversity suit governed by Illinois law tests the outer limits of the common law doctrine of indemnity.

The word “indemnity” is from a Latin word that means “security from damage.” The most common form of indemnity in modern life is an insurance contract: A is harmed by conduct covered by an insurance contract issued by insurance company B; the contract secures A from the harm by shifting its cost to B. But indemnity is not limited to insurance contracts (indemnity provisions are frequently found in…