Opinion ID: 2176806
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Scope of the Indemnification Clause

Text: Having determined that the agreement at issue in this case is explicit and clear enough to signify the parties' intention that Frontline indemnify COSCO for claims resulting from COSCO's own negligence, we turn to the scope of the agreement. Frontline contends that the negligence claims asserted against COSCO in the underlying litigation do not fall within the scope of the agreement's indemnification clause. In response, COSCO asserts that this issue has been forfeited, as it was not raised in Frontline's petition for leave to appeal. Notwithstanding forfeiture, COSCO asserts that substantively analyzing the issue reveals that the negligence claims alleged against COSCO do fall within the scope of the indemnification agreement. While Frontline raised the scope issue in the appellate court, it did not include it in its petition for leave to appeal. Supreme Court Rule 315(c)(3) provides that a petition for leave to appeal must contain a statement of the points relied upon in asking the Supreme Court to review the judgment of the Appellate Court. 210 Ill.2d R. 315(c)(3). In its petition for leave to appeal under a Points Relied Upon For Reversal heading, Frontline argued that [t]he Appellate Court erred because it improperly treated the language of the interchange agreement, containing an indemnification provision, as including language which would indemnify defendants/respondents, [COSCO], for claims resulting from COSCO's own negligence. In the very next sentence, Frontline stated that [t]he issue in this case is whether the language `any and all' in the interchange agreement is sufficient to indemnify COSCO for their own negligence. Frontline failed to argue in its petition, however, that the negligence claims asserted against COSCO in the underlying litigation do not fall within the scope of the agreement's indemnification clause. This issue was only raised in its brief, which it styled as a Supplemental Brief to Petition for Leave to Appeal. A party's failure to raise an issue in its petition for leave to appeal may be deemed a forfeiture of that issue. Sullivan v. Edward Hospital, 209 Ill.2d 100, 124-25, 282 Ill.Dec. 348, 806 N.E.2d 645 (2004). [2] By failing to raise the scope issue in its petition for leave to appeal, then, Frontline has forfeited that issue in this court. That Frontline later raised the issue in its brief does not cure the forfeiture. Finding the scope issue forfeited, we will not address the issue on the merits.