Opinion ID: 2419846
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Kellogg's Appeal

Text: Our conclusions above largely dispose of Valero's claims against Kellogg. Like Ingersoll-Rand, Kellogg's claim for attorney's fees did not accrue until summary judgment was rendered in Valero I. Consequently, Kellogg's claim was not compulsory. In any event, Kellogg filed its claim one month before severance in the original action while summary judgment was still interlocutory. As such, the claim was properly preserved through the severance order for later adjudication, and res judicata does not bar it. As to Valero's statute of limitations defense, limitations could not have began to run before Kellogg's indemnity claim became fixed and certain. Like Ingersoll-Rand, Kellogg's claim did not become fixed and certain until judgment was signed in Valero I. Kellogg filed its claim on November 20, 1991, less than a month after summary judgment was signed in Valero I, and well within the four-year limitations period. The court of appeals, however, held that limitations began to run on Kellogg's indemnification claim when Valero filed suit on July 11, 1986, because Valero's suit acted as a repudiation of the contract's indemnity provision. It is true that limitations may begin to run upon a promisor's anticipatory repudiation, but only if the repudiation is adopted by the nonrepudiating party. [40] Valero contends that its petition in Valero I was an unequivocal repudiation of its duty to indemnify. However, the effect of such an anticipatory repudiation is to give the nonrepudiating party the option of treating the repudiation as a breach or ignoring the repudiation and awaiting the agreed upon time of performance. [41] Thus, even if Valero's petition acted as an unequivocal repudiation, an issue we do not decide, Kellogg was still entitled to await the time of performance and sue only after an actual breach of the indemnity clause. Valero did not breach its agreement to indemnify Kellogg until Kellogg made a demand for indemnity, and Valero refused to perform. It was only at this time that the statute of limitations began to run. The record reveals that Kellogg made its demand for attorney's fees on November 20, 1991, and filed its claims for attorney's fees on the same day. Thus, even if Valero repudiated the contract, Kellogg still satisfied the statute of limitations.