Colorado § 7-109-101 - Definitions.

§ 7-109-101. Definitions.

As used in this article 109:

(1) "Corporation" includes any domestic or foreign entity that is a predecessor of a corporation by reason of a merger or other transaction in which the predecessor's existence ceased upon consummation of the transaction.

(2) "Director" means an individual who is or was a director of a corporation or an individual who, while a director of a corporation, is or was serving at the corporation's request as a director, an officer, an agent, an associate, an employee, a fiduciary, a manager, a member, a partner, a promoter, or a trustee of, or in any other capacity with, another person or an employee benefit plan. A director is considered to be serving an employee benefit plan at the corporation's request if the director's duties to the corporation also impose duties on, or otherwise involve services by, the director to the plan or to participants in or beneficiaries of the plan. "Director" includes, unless the context requires otherwise, the estate or personal representative of a deceased director.

(3) "Expenses" includes counsel fees.

(4) "Liability" means the obligation incurred with respect to a proceeding to pay a judgment, settlement, penalty, fine, including an excise tax assessed with respect to an employee benefit plan, or reasonable expenses.

(5) "Official capacity" means, when used with respect to a director, the office of director in a corporation and, when used with respect to a person other than a director as contemplated in section 7-109-107, the office in a corporation held by the officer or the employment, fiduciary, or agency relationship undertaken by the employee, fiduciary, or agent on behalf of the corporation. "Official capacity" does not include service for any other domestic or foreign corporation or other person or employee benefit plan.

(6) "Party" includes a person who was, is, or is threatened to be made a named defendant or respondent in a proceeding.

(7) "Proceeding" means any threatened, pending, or completed action, suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, arbitrative, or investigative and whether formal or informal.

Source: L. 93: Entire article added, p. 789, § 1, effective July 1, 1994. L. 96: (2) amended, p. 1319, § 25, effective June 1. L. 2003: (2) amended, p. 2320, § 246, effective July 1, 2004. L. 2004: (2) amended, p. 1500, § 264, effective July 1. L. 2019: IP, (2), and (7) amended, (SB 19-086), ch. 166, p. 1937, § 37, effective July 1, 2020.

Cross references: For additional definitions applicable to this article, see §§ 7-90-102 and 7-101-401.

ANNOTATION

A defense is "wholly successful" if an entire proceeding is disposed of on a basis that does not involve a finding of "liability"; thus, indemnification is mandated when jury found former director, officer, and employee breached a duty to the corporation but refused to award the corporation damages due to lack of causation. Waskel v. Guaranty Nat'l Corp., 23 P.3d 1214 (Colo. App. 2000) (declining to follow Quark, Inc. v. Harley, 141 F.3d 1185 (10th Cir. 1998)).