Exhibit 10.12
FORM OF INDEMNIFICATION
AGREEMENT
THIS INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT (this
“Agreement”) is made as of
by and among K-Sea General Partner GP, LLC, a Delaware limited
liability company (the “Company”), K-Sea General
Partner, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (the “General
Partner”), K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P., a Delaware
limited partnership (the “Partnership”), and
(“Indemnitee”).
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
WHEREAS, qualified persons are
reluctant to serve organizations as directors or officers or in
other capacities unless they are provided with adequate protection
against inordinate risks of claims and actions against them arising
out of their service to and activities on behalf of such
organizations;
WHEREAS, the parties hereto
recognize that the legal risks and potential liabilities, and the
threat thereof, associated with lawsuits filed against persons
serving the Company, the General Partner, the Partnership and/or
their respective subsidiaries, and the resultant substantial time,
expense and anxiety spent and endured in defending lawsuits bears
no reasonable relationship to the compensation received by such
persons, and thus poses a significant deterrent and increased
reluctance on the part of experienced and capable individuals to
serve the Company, the General Partner, the Partnership and/or
their respective subsidiaries;
WHEREAS, the uncertainties related
to obtaining adequate insurance and indemnification have increased
the difficulty of attracting and retaining such persons;
WHEREAS, it is reasonable, prudent
and necessary for the Company, the General Partners and the
Partnership to contractually agree to indemnify such persons to the
fullest extent permitted by law, so that such persons will serve or
continue to serve the Company, the General Partner, the Partnership
and/or their respective subsidiaries free from undue concern that
they will not be adequately indemnified; and
WHEREAS, the Indemnitee is willing
to serve, continue to serve and to take on additional service for
an on behalf of the Company, the General Partner and the
Partnership on the condition that the Indemnitee is indemnified
according to the terms of this Agreement;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the premises and the covenants herein, the parties to this
Agreement agree as follows:
Section 1.
Services by Indemnitee. Indemnitee will serve, or
continue to serve, as a Functionary of the Company and, as
Indemnitee and the Company may agree, as a Functionary of one or
more Related Enterprises. Indemnitee may at any time and for
any reason resign from any such service, subject to any other
contractual obligation or any obligation applicable law
imposes. This Agreement is not and is not to be construed as
an employment contract by the Company or any other Related
Enterprise with Indemnitee or as otherwise affecting
Indemnitee’s status, if any, as an employee of the Company or
any Related Enterprise.
Section 2.
Indemnification . (a) If and
whenever:
(1)
Indemnitee was or
is, or is threatened to be made, a party to any Proceeding by
reason of:
(A)
the fact that Indemnitee serves or
served as (1) a Functionary of the Company or, at the request
of the Company, (2) a Functionary of a Related Enterprise;
or
(B)
the actual or alleged service or
conduct of Indemnitee in Indemnitee’s capacity as that
Functionary, including any act actually or allegedly done or not
done by Indemnitee;
and
(2)
Indemnitee
(A) engaged in the service or conduct at issue in that
Proceeding in good faith and in a manner Indemnitee reasonably
believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the
Company and, in the event that Proceeding was or is a criminal
action or proceeding involving Indemnitee’s conduct,
(B) had no reasonable cause to believe that that conduct was
unlawful,
the Partnership will, or will cause another
Partnership Entity to, indemnify Indemnitee against, and hold
Indemnitee harmless from and in respect of:
(1)
in the case of
each Claim in that Proceeding, other than a Company Claim, all
liabilities and losses, including the amounts of all judgments,
penalties and fines, including excise taxes, and amounts paid in
settlement, Indemnitee has suffered or will suffer, and all
Expenses Indemnitee reasonably has incurred or will incur, as a
result of or in connection with that Claim; and
(2)
in the case of
each Company Claim in that Proceeding, all Expenses Indemnitee
reasonably has incurred or will incur as a result of or in
connection with that Company Claim; provided, however, that the
Partnership will not have any obligation under this clause
(2) to, or to cause another Partnership Entity to, indemnify
Indemnitee against, or hold Indemnitee harmless from or in respect
of, any Company Claim as to which Indemnitee was or is adjudged to
be liable to the Company or any Related Enterprise unless, and only
to the extent that, the Court of Chancery or the court in which
that Company Claim was or is brought determines on application
that, despite the adjudication of liability, but in view of all the
circumstances of the case, Indemnitee is fairly and reasonably
entitled to indemnity for such of those Expenses as the Court of
Chancery or that other court shall deem proper.
(b)
If and whenever Indemnitee was or
is, or is threatened to be made, a party to any Proceeding of any
type to which Section 2(a) refers and has been
successful, on the merits or otherwise, in defense of that
Proceeding, or in defense of any Claim therein, the Partnership
will, or will cause another Partnership Entity to, indemnify
Indemnitee against, and hold Indemnitee harmless from and in
respect of, all Expenses Indemnitee reasonably has incurred in
connection
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therewith. The rights of Indemnitee under
this Section 2(b) are in addition to, and independent of,
the rights of Indemnitee under Sections 2(a) or
2(c).
(c)
If and whenever Indemnitee was, or
reasonably could have been expected to have been, or is, or
reasonably could be expected to be, by reason of the knowledge of
facts Indemnitee actually or allegedly has obtained in the course
of his service as (1) a Functionary of the Company or, at the
request of the Company, (2) a Functionary of a Related
Enterprise, a witness in or a deponent in connection with any
Proceeding to which Indemnitee was or is not a party, the
Partnership will, or will cause another Partnership Entity to,
indemnify Indemnitee against, and hold Indemnitee harmless from and
in respect of, all Expenses Indemnitee reasonably has incurred or
will incur in connection therewith. The rights of Indemnitee
under this Section 2(c) are in addition to, and
independent of, the rights of Indemnitee under
Sections 2(a) or 2(b).
Section 3.
Advancement of Expenses. (a) If and whenever Indemnitee
is, or is threatened to be made, a party to any Proceeding that may
give rise to a right of Indemnitee to indemnification under
Section 2(a), the Partnership will, or will cause another
Partnership Entity to, advance all Expenses reasonably incurred by
or on behalf of Indemnitee in connection with that Proceeding
within 10 days after the Company receives a statement or statements
from Indemnitee requesting the advance or advances from time to
time, whether prior to or after final disposition of that
Proceeding. Each such statement must reasonably evidence the
Expenses incurred by or on behalf of Indemnitee and include or be
preceded or accompanied by an undertaking by or on behalf of
Indemnitee to repay any Expenses advanced if it ultimately is
determined that Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified by the
Company under Section 2(a) against those Expenses.
The Partnership will accept any such undertaking without reference
to the financial ability of Indemnitee to make repayment. If
the Partnership or another Partnership Entity advances Expenses in
connection with any Claim as to which Indemnitee has requested or
may request indemnification under Section 2(a) and a
determination is made under Section 5(c) that Indemnitee
is not entitled to that indemnification, Indemnitee will not be
required to reimburse the Partnership or that other Partnership
Entity for those advances until the 180th day following the date of
that determination; provided, however, that if Indemnitee timely
commences and thereafter prosecutes in good faith a judicial
proceeding or arbitration under Section 7(a) or otherwise
to obtain that indemnification, Indemnitee will not be required to
reimburse the Partnership or that other Partnership Entity for
those Expenses until a determination in that proceeding or
arbitration that Indemnitee is not entitled to that indemnification
has become final and nonappealable.
(b)
The Partnership
or another Partnership Entity may advance Expenses under
Section 3(a) to Indemnitee or, at the Company’s
option, directly to the Person to which those Expenses are owed,
and Indemnitee hereby consents to any such direct payment, to
Indemnitee’s legal counsel or any other Person.
(c)
For the avoidance
of doubt, the parties agree that the provisions of this
Section 3 shall be applicable during the pendancy of any
determination of the right of the Indemnitee to indemnification
under Section 2(a), including the pendancy of any court or
arbitration proceeding contemplated by Section 7.
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Section 4.
Notification and Defense of Claims . (a) If
Indemnitee receives notice, otherwise than from the Company, that
Indemnitee is or will be made, or is threatened to be made, a party
to any Proceeding in respect of which Indemnitee intends to seek
indemnification hereunder, Indemnitee must promptly notify the
Company in writing of the nature and, to Indemnitee’s
knowledge, status of that Proceeding. If this
Section 4(a) requires Indemnitee to give such a notice,
but Indemnitee fails to do so, that failure will not relieve the
Company from, or otherwise affect, the obligations the Partnership
may have to indemnify Indemnitee under this Agreement, unless the
Company can establish that the failure has resulted in actual
prejudice to the Company.
(b)
Except as this
Section 4(b) otherwise provides below, in the case of any
Proceeding in respect of which Indemnitee seeks indemnification
hereunder:
(1)
the Company and
any Related Enterprise that also may be obligated to indemnify
Indemnitee in respect of that Proceeding will be entitled to
participate at its own expense in that Proceeding;
(2)
the Company or
that Related Enterprise, or either of them, will be entitled to
assume the defense of all Claims, other than (A) Company
Claims, if any, and (B) other Claims, if any, as to which
Indemnitee shall reasonably reach the conclusion
clause (3) of the next sentence describes, in that
Proceeding against Indemnitee by prompt written notice of that
election to Indemnitee; and
(3)
if clause
(2) above entitles the Company or that Related Enterprise to
assume the defense of any of those Claims and it delivers to
Indemnitee notice of that assumption under clause (2), the Company
will not be liable to Indemnitee hereunder for any fees or expenses
of legal counsel for Indemnitee which Indemnitee incurs after
Indemnitee receives that notice.
Indemnitee will have the right to employ
Indemnitee’s own legal counsel in that Proceeding, but, as
clause (3) of the preceding sentence provides, will bear the
fees and expenses of that counsel unless:
(1)
the Company has
authorized Indemnitee in writing to retain that
counsel;
(2)
the Company shall
not within a reasonable period of time actually have employed
counsel to assume the defense of those Claims; or
(3)
Indemnitee shall
have (A) reasonably concluded that a conflict of interest may
exist between Indemnitee and the Company as to the defense of one
or more of those Claims and (B) communicated that conclusion
to the Company in writing.
(c)
The Partnership
will not be obligated hereunder to, or to cause another Partnership
Entity to, indemnify Indemnitee against or hold Indemnitee harmless
from and in respect of any amounts paid, or agreed to be paid, by
Indemnitee in settlement of any Claim against Indemnitee which
Indemnitee effects without the Company’s prior written
consent. The Company will not settle any Claim against
Indemnitee in any manner that would impose any penalty or
limitation on Indemnitee without Indemnitee’s prior written
consent. Neither the
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Company nor Indemnitee will
unreasonably delay or withhold consent to any such settlement the
other party proposes to effect.
Section 5.
Procedure for Determination of Entitlement to
Indemnification . (a) To obtain indemnification
under this Agreement, Indemnitee must submit to the Company a
written request therefor which includes, or is accompanied by, such
documentation and information as is reasonably available to
Indemnitee and is reasonably necessary to determine whether and to
what extent Indemnitee is entitled to that indemnification.
Indemnitee may request indemnification hereunder at any time and
from time to time as Indemnitee deems appropriate in
Indemnitee’s sole discretion. In the case of any
request for indemnification under Section 2(a) as to any
Claim which is pending or threatened at the time Indemnitee
delivers that request to the Company and would not be resolved with
finality, whether by judgment, order, settlement or otherwise, on
payment of the indemnification requested, the Company may defer the
determination under Section 5(c) of Indemnitee’s
entitlement to that indemnification to a date that is no later than
45 days after the effective date of that final resolution if the
Board concludes in good faith that an earlier determination would
be materially prejudicial to the Company or a Related
Enterprise.
(b)
On written
request by Indemnitee under Section 5(a) for
indemnification under Section 2(a), the determination of
Indemnitee’s entitlement to that indemnification will be
made:
(1)
if Indemnitee
will be a director or officer of the Company at the time that
determination is made, under Section 5(c) in each case;
or
(2)
if Indemnitee
will not be a director or officer of the Company at the time that
determination is made, under Section 5(c) in any case, if
so requested in writing by Indemnitee or so directed by the Board,
or, in the absence of that request and direction, as the Board
shall duly authorize or direct.
(c)
Each
determination of Indemnitee’s entitlement to indemnification
under Section 2(a) to which this
Section 5(c) applies will be made as follows:
(1)
by a majority
vote of the Disinterested Directors, even though less than a
quorum; or
(2)
by a committee of
Disinterested Directors designated by a majority vote of the
Disinterested Directors, even though less than a quorum;
or
(3)
if (A) there
are no Disinterested Directors or (B) a majority vote of the
Disinterested Directors so directs, by an Independent Counsel in a
written opinion to the Board, a copy of which the Company will
deliver to Indemnitee;
provided, however, that if Indemnitee has so
requested in Indemnitee’s request for indemnification, an
Independent Counsel will make that determination in a written
opinion to the Board, a copy of which the Company will deliver to
Indemnitee.
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(d)
If it is
determined that Indemnitee is entitled to indemnification under
Section 2(a), the Partnership will, or will cause another
Partnership Entity to, subject to the provisions of
Section 5(f):
(1)
within 10 days
after that determination pay to Indemnitee all amounts
(A) theretofore incurred by or on behalf of Indemnitee in
respect of which Indemnitee is entitled to that indemnification by
reason of that determination and (B) requested from the
Company in writing by Indemnitee; and
(2)
thereafter on
written request by Indemnitee, pay to Indemnitee within 10 days
after that request such additional amounts theretofore incurred by
or on behalf of Indemnitee in respect of which Indemnitee is
entitled to that indemnification by reason of that
determination.
Indemnitee will cooperate with the person,
persons or entity making the determination under
Section 5(c) with respect to Indemnitee’s
entitlement to indemnification under Section 2(a), including
providing to such person, persons or entity, on reasonable advance
request, any documentation or information that is:
(1)
not privileged or
otherwise protected from disclosure;
(2)
reasonably
available to Indemnitee; and
(3)
reasonably
necessary to that determination.
(e)
If an Independent
Counsel is to make a determination under Section 5(c) of
entitlement to indemnification under Section 2(a), it will be
selected by the Company with the consent of the Indemnitee (which
consent shall not be unreasonably withheld). The Partnership
will pay any and all reasonable fees and expenses the Independent
Counsel incurs in connection with acting under Section 5(c),
and the Partnership will pay all reasonable fees and expenses
incident to the procedures this Section 5(e) sets forth,
regardless of the manner in which the Independent Counsel is
selected or appointed. If Indemnitee becomes entitled to, and
does, initiate any judicial proceeding or arbitration under
Section 7, the Company will terminate its engagement of the
person or firm acting as Independent Counsel, whereupon that person
or firm will be, subject to the applicable standards of
professional conduct then prevailing, relieved of any further
responsibility in the capacity of Independent Counsel.
(f)
The amount of any
indemnification against Expenses to which Indemnitee becomes
entitled under any provision hereof, including Section 2(a),
will be determined subject to the provisions of this
Section 5(f). Indemnitee will have the burden of showing
that Indemnitee actually has incurred the Expenses for which
Indemnitee requests indemnification. If the Partnership or a
Partnership Entity has made any advance in respect of any Expense
incurred by Indemnitee without objecting in writing to Indemnitee
at the time of the advance to the reasonableness thereof, the
incurrence of that Expense by Indemnitee will be deemed for all
purposes hereof to have been reasonable. In the case of any
Expense as to which such an objection has been made, or any Expense
for which no advance has been made, the incurrence of that Expense
will be presumed to have been reasonable, and the Company will have
the burden of proof to overcome that presumption.
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Subject to the provisions of the
preceding paragraph, the advancement of Expenses to Indemnitee
under Section 3 will not, of itself, create a presumption that
the Proceeding or Claim therein to which those Expenses relate is a
Proceeding or Claim of the type to which
Section 2(a) applies. If the Company, prior to or
in connection with the making any advance of Expenses under
Section 3 to or for the benefit of Indemnitee, notifies
Indemnitee in writing that the Proceeding or any Claim therein is
or reasonably could be expected to be in whole or in any specified
part not one to which Section&n
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