Texas Transportation Code 431.032 – Indemnification
(a) A corporation may indemnify a director or officer of the corporation for necessary expenses and costs, including attorney’s fees, incurred by the director or officer in connection with any claim asserted against the director or officer in a court action or otherwise for negligence or misconduct.
(b) If a corporation does not fully indemnify a director or officer as provided by Subsection (a), the court in a proceeding in which any claim against the director or officer is asserted or any court with jurisdiction of an action instituted by the director or officer on a claim for indemnity may assess indemnity against the corporation, its receiver, or trustee for the amount paid by the director or officer, including attorney’s fees, to pay any judgment or settlement of the claim necessarily incurred by the director or officer in connection with the claim in an amount the court considers reasonable and equitable only if the court finds that, in connection with the claim, the director or officer is not guilty of negligence or misconduct.
Terms Used In Texas Transportation Code 431.032
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(c) A court may not assess indemnity under Subsection (b) for an amount paid by the director or officer to the corporation.
(d) In this section, “director or officer” includes a former director or officer.