Morrison Mahoney Partner Joe Yannetti recently prevailed in a bench trial in an indemnification/breach of contract claim in Bristol County Superior Court. The claim arose out of a third-party defendant’s withdrawal of its acceptance of a tender shortly before the trial of the plaintiffs’ tort claim.
In August 2016, the third-party defendant accepted the insured’s tender and began defending the insured with counsel of its choosing. In November 2018, the third-party defendant withdrew its defense of the insured on the grounds that facts developed during discovery rendered the indemnification provision in the parties’ Service Agreement inapplicable. After resuming the defense of the insured and obtaining a defense verdict in October 2021, we pursued third-party claims seeking to recoup defense costs.
Following a bench trial, the court concluded that the third-party defendant’s withdrawal of its defense of the insured breached its duty to defend under the applicable provision of the Service Agreement and entered judgment in the insured’s favor.
