In the recent case of Norfolk & Dedham Mutual Fire Insurance Company v. Morrison, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ("SJC") held that a commercial lease provision that required a tenant to provide insurance on behalf of the landlord for injuries sustained because of the condition of the premises or its use by the tenant does not violate the provisions of M.G.L. c. 186, § 15, which voids lease terms that require a tenant to indemnify a landlord for landlord's own negligence. The insurance provision provides for indemnity but the indemnity is actually from the third party insurance company and not directly from the tenant. Thus the insurance requirement is not inconsistent with the statute. The SJC did conclude however that a lease provision which required that the tenant indemnify the landlord except in situations that arose because of the "sole" negligence of the landlord did violate M.G.L. c. 186, § 15 because the term "sole" made the tenant indemnify the landlord even if the landlord was partially but not "solely" responsible for the negligence. Thus a tenant would be required to indemnify a landlord for a landlord's negligence contrary to the statute.
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