Herrick Corp. v. Canadian Ins. Co. of Cal.

Introduction

It is hard to imagine another set of legal terms with more soporific effect than indemnity, subrogation, contribution, co-obligation and joint tortfeasorship. Perhaps because the words describe legal relationships between multiple parties, they are vaguely reminiscent of complex mathematical equations which, after all, also describe relationships, except in numbers rather than words—and for most of us, they are about as easy to understand. Even lawyers find words like “indemnity” and “subrogation” ring of an obscure Martian dialect.

For better or worse, the present case revolves around these ideas. We are required to unravel the rights of several parties—and their insurers—on a construction project where a worker was injured. The reader may therefore find it helpful to have, from the beginning, a mental diagram of the parties and their relationships. A general contractor named Tishman sits in the center. On one side there is a subcontractor named Buggy, and next to Buggy is its insurer Canadian. On Tishman’s other side is another subcontractor named Herrick, and next to Herrick is its insurer, Classic. Beneath all of them is the injured worker, an employee…