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\\nCondo Association are Birthplaces of Litigation\\n\\nPlaintiff, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (Nationwide), brought a \\ndeclaratory judgment action against insureds, Beverly Glen Homeowners\' \\nAssociation (Association) and members of the board of directors asking \\nthe court to declare that Nationwide had no duty to defend or indemnify \\ndefendants against claims made by the Association residents in a \\nderivative suit. The trial court granted Nationwide\'s motion for \\njudgment on the pleadings, finding that res judicata and collateral \\nestoppel barred defendants from seeking a defense in the derivative suit\\n where judgment rendered in a prior case determined that Nationwide had \\nno duty to defend.\\n\\nIn Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company v. Beverly Glen Homeowners\' \\nAssociation, et al, No. 3-22-0089, 2023 IL App (3d) 220089-U, Court of \\nAppeals of Illinois, Third District (July 7, 2023)\\n\\nBACKGROUND\\n\\nThis lawsuit arises out of an ongoing dispute between defendants and \\nTeresa and Katarzyna Jagiello, two Association residents.\\n\\nOn April 14, 2020, the trial court granted Nationwide\'s motion. It held \\nthat "There are no material issues of fact in dispute and it is clear, \\nas a matter of law, that the lack of cooperation on the part of the \\ninsured and its counsel has relieved Nationwide of its duties under its \\npolicy .... Nationwide\'s insured failed to cooperate with Nationwide, \\nrelieving Nationwide of its duties under the policy, and Nationwide owes\\n nothing to its insured...\\xa0 for any legal services. As such, Nationwide \\nowes neither a duty to defend nor indemnify its insured in this matter."\\n\\nANALYSIS\\nRes Judicata and Collateral Estoppel\\n\\nThe doctrine of res judicata serves to bar actions in which: (1) there \\nwas a final judgment on the merits rendered by a court of competent \\njurisdiction; (2) there is an identity of cause of action; and (3) there\\n is an identity of parties or their privies in both actions. Res \\njudicata prevents the relitigation of issues that could have been \\ndecided in the first action along with those issues that were actually \\ndecided.\\n\\nThe directors of a Condo Association act as the arms of the Association \\nand for all intents and purposes are one and the same. In other words, \\nthere exists a legal relationship in which the directors, acting within \\ntheir corporate authority, bind the Association.