Defense of Claim. The indemnifying Party shall defend or control the defense of Third Party Claims. The indemnifying Party shall be responsible for satisfying and discharging any award made to or settlement reached with the Third Party pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. The indemnifying Party shall retain counsel to represent the indemnified party and shall pay the reasonable fees and expenses of such counsel related to such proceeding. In any such proceeding, but without limiting the foregoing, the indemnified Party, at its sole expense, shall have the right to retain its own counsel. The indemnified Party shall cooperate in all reasonable respects in the defense of such Third Party Claim, as requested by, and at the reasonable expense of, the indemnifying Party. The indemnifying Party shall not, without the written consent of the indemnified Party (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld, refused, conditioned or delayed), effect any settlement of any such Third Party Claim, unless such settlement includes a full and unconditional release of the indemnified Party from all liability on such Claims.

NOTIFICATION AND DEFENSE OF CLAIM. Promptly after receipt by Director of notice of the commencement of any action, suit or proceeding, Director will, if a claim in respect thereof is to be made against Corporation under this Agreement, notify Corporation in writing of the commencement thereof; but the omission so to notify Corporation will not relieve it from any liability which it may have to Director otherwise than under this Agreement. With respect to any such action, suit or proceeding as to which Director notifies Corporation of the commencement thereof:

Defense. With respect to any Proceeding as to which Indemnitee notifies the Company of the commencement thereof, the Company will be entitled to participate in the Proceeding at its own expense and except as otherwise provided below, to the extent the Company so wishes, it may assume the defense thereof with counsel reasonably satisfactory to Indemnitee. After notice from the Company to Indemnitee of its election to assume the defense of any Proceeding, the Company will not be liable to Indemnitee under this Agreement or otherwise for any Expenses subsequently incurred by Indemnitee in connection with the defense of such Proceeding other than reasonable costs of investigation or as otherwise provided below. Indemnitee shall have the right to employ his own counsel in such Proceeding, but all Expenses related thereto incurred after notice from the Company of its assumption of the defense shall be at Indemnitee's expense unless: # the employment of counsel by Indemnitee has been authorized by the Company, # Indemnitee has reasonably determined that there may be a conflict of interest between Indemnitee and the Company in the defense of the Proceeding, after a Change in Control (other than a Change in Control approved by a majority of the directors on the Board who were directors immediately prior to such Change in Control), the employment of counsel by Indemnitee has been approved by the Independent Counsel, or # the Company shall not in fact have employed counsel to assume the defense of such Proceeding, in each of which case all Expenses of the Proceeding shall be borne by the Company. The Company shall not be entitled to assume the defense of any Proceeding brought by or on behalf of the Company or as to which Indemnitee shall have made the determination provided for in # above.

Claim. A person who believes that he or she is being denied a benefit to which he or she is entitled under this Plan (hereinafter referred to as “Claimant”) must file a written request for such benefit with the Company, setting forth his or her claim. The request must be addressed to the General Counsel of the Company at its then principal place of business.

Claim. A "Claim" shall be broadly construed to include any damage, liability, expense, reasonable attorney fees, costs, or any combination thereof arising from, related to, or connected with a party's breach of this Agreement.

Notice by Indemnitee and Defense of Claim. Indemnitee shall promptly notify the Company in writing upon being served with any summons, citation, subpoena, complaint, indictment, information or other document relating to any matter, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, but the omission to notify the Company will not relieve it from any liability which it may have to Indemnitee if such omission does not prejudice the Company’s rights. If such omission does prejudice the Company’s rights, the Company will be relieved from liability only to the extent of such prejudice, and such omission shall not relieve the Company from any liability which it may have to Indemnitee otherwise than under this Agreement.

Full Defense. This General Release Agreement may be pled as a full and complete defense to, and may be used as a basis for an injunction against, any action, suit or other proceeding that may be prosecuted, instituted or attempted by Executive in breach hereof.

Initial Claim. Claims for benefits under the Plan may be filed in writing with the Administrator. Written or electronic notice of the disposition of a claim shall be furnished to the claimant within ninety (90) days (45 days if the claim involves disability benefits and disability is not based on the Social Security Acts) after the application is filed, or such period as is required by applica ble law or Department of Labor regulation. Any electronic notification shall comply with the standards imposed by Department of La bor Regulation §2520.104b-1(c)(1)(i), (iii) and (iv) or any subsequent guidance. In the event the claim is denied, the reasons for the denial shall be specifically set forth in the notice in language calculated to be understood by the claimant, pertinent p rovisions of the Plan shall be cited, and, where appropriate, an explanation as to how the claimant can perfect the claim will be provided. In addi tion, the claimant shall be furnished with an explanation of the Plan's claims review procedure.

Claim Decision. Upon receipt of a claim, the AT&T Executive Compensation Administration Department shall review the claim and provide the Claimant with a written notice of its decision within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed ninety (90) days, after the claim is received. If the AT&T Executive Compensation Administration Department determines that special circumstances require an extension of time beyond the initial ninety (90)-day claim review period, the AT&T Executive Compensation Administration Department shall notify the Claimant in writing within the initial ninety (90)-day period and explain the special circumstances that require the extension and state the date by which the AT&T Executive Compensation Administration Department expects to render its decision on the claim. If this notice is provided, the AT&T Executive Compensation Administration Department may take up to an additional ninety (90) days (for a total of one hundred eighty (180) days after receipt of the claim) to render its decision on the claim.

Claim Review. Any Participant, Beneficiary or other claimant who does not agree with the decision rendered on the application may request that the Committee review the decision. Each request for review must be made in a writing addressed to and filed with the Committee within sixty (60) days after the claimant receives the decision, or if the application has neither been approved nor denied within the 90-day period specified in [subsection (b)], then the request must be made within 60 days after expiration of the 90-day period. Concurrently with filing the request for review the claimant may submit in writing to the Committee a statement of the issues raised by his appeal and supporting arguments and comments. Where the Committee believes that the issues raised by the claimant’s appeal may be more efficiently or fairly processed by taking testimony of the claimant or others, it will set the matter for oral hearing and give the claimant reasonable notice of the time and place. The Committee will proceed promptly to resolve all issues raised by the claimant’s appeal and will render a written decision on the merits within 60 days following the claimant’s request for review. Any determination by the Committee after completion of the review process set forth herein shall be binding upon the Company and the claimant.