BETHLEHEM STEEL CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, PLAINTIFF-RESPONDENT, v. K.L.O. WELDING ERECTORS, INC., A CORPORATION OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY, DEFENDANT-APPELLANT, 132 N.J. Super. 496

Summary

Plaintiff contractor subcontracted the construction of a tank to defendant subcontractor. After one of defendant's employees was electrocuted when a crane came in contact with electrical wires, defendant and defendant's insurance company refused to defend plaintiff in a wrongful death action brought by the deceased employee's wife. Plaintiff successfully defended the suit and sought to recover attorneys' fees and costs under the indemnity provision of its contract with defendant. The court affirmed the decision of the lower court that granted a motion for summary judgment in the action to recover attorney's fees and costs, in favor of plaintiff, because the language of the indemnity provision for "any and all loss or liability" stressed the breadth of the clause and compelled the conclusion that legal expenses were intended as a "loss" within the meaning of the contract. Moreover, plaintiff's defense of the wrongful death action was actually for the sole benefit of defendant. Because ...