Opinion ID: 2362165
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Tender of Defense

Text: On February 17, 1993, UFCW notified its insurance broker of the Food Lion action, enclosing a copy of the complaint. One week later, Travelers received a letter from the broker enclosing UFCW's February 17 letter and the Food Lion complaint. Travelers subsequently acknowledged that it had received the complaint in a letter which notified UFCW that it was researching the issue of coverage and would, after completing its research and analysis, thereafter advise the union of its views concerning its defense and indemnity obligations. In the meantime, the letter advised, UFCW was to do whatever was necessary to protect its interests in the litigation; UFCW had already hired local counsel to do so. In August 1993, UFCW's local counsel, David Flowers, informed Travelers that the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina had dismissed Food Lion's lawsuit, but that Food Lion had moved for reconsideration and leave to amend its complaint, enclosing copies of Food Lion's motion to reconsider and proposed amended complaint. The affidavit of Lionel Martin, who supervised liability claims for Travelers, states that [s]ometime after Travelers received the notice of the complaint's dismissal from Flowers, Martin spoke with Richard Roesel, an assistant general counsel at UFCW, who told Martin that the Food Lion litigation was concluded and that Travelers did not need to do anything more with respect to the Food Lion litigation. In January 1994, Travelers received a bill from Flowers requesting payment for services performed through December 1993.