Much has been written about the application of General Obligations Law 5-321 to lease agreements. As a general rule, an entity cannot be indemnified for its own negligence if the nature of the agreement falls under one of the applicable sections of the General Obligations Law.

However, through the recent Court of Appeals decision of Great Northern Insurance Company v. Interior Construction Corp., et al., 7 NY3d 412, 823 NYS2d 765 (2006), the Court of Appeals has reaffirmed its prior 1977 decision of Hogeland v. Sibley, Lindsay & Curr Co., 42 NY2d 153, 397 NYS2d 602 (1977).

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