Brooks Pierce partner Charles Marshall presented "Indemnification, Attorneys' Fees and Arbitration Provisions in Contracts" at the 2010 North Carolina Bar Association's Business Law Section Annual Meeting in Pinehurst on February 19.
Many business and commercial contracts contain standard provisions regarding indemnification, attorneys’ fees, and arbitration. Although each of these provisions are contractual in nature and subject to general principles of contract construction, the enforceability of such provisions often depends upon particular facts and circumstances and the applicability of specific statutory provisions or judicial interpretations—some of which are intended promote public policy concerns rather to enforce contract terms. For these reasons, it is important to be able to spot potential issues in these provisions that may require additional legal research or analysis.
This program was a general overview of some of the larger principles and statutory provisions that govern the enforceability of indemnification, attorneys’ fees, and arbitration provisions.