by Tae Andrews A recent Fifth Circuit decision has reaffirmed that an insured cannot withstand an insurer’s motion for summary judgment by presenting only an expert’s conclusory affidavit as evidence. In Stagliano v. Cincinnati Insurance Co., No. 15-10137 slip op. at 2 (5th Cir. Dec. 11, 2015), the insured plaintiffs…
by Nancy Randolph Kornegay Casenote: Burks v. XL Specialty Insurance Co 2015 WL 6949610, —S.W.3d—(Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.], Nov. 10, 2015). There are not a lot of Texas appellate-court decisions on D&O coverage issues. This very recent decision could end up being quite significant. Burks and XL Specialty have since settled,…
by Linda M. Dedman Casenote: Cameron International Corporation v. Liberty Insurance Underwriters Co-author: Floyd Clardy, III The Fifth Circuit has acknowleged that it may have erred in denying claims under the Texas Insurance Code when there is evidence that an insurer failed to pay a claim when coverage was reasonably clear but…
by Tae Andrews Casenote: RSUI Indem. Co. v. Lynd Co (Tex. May 8, 2015). A recent Supreme Court of Texas decision reemphasized well-established rules of insurance policy interpretation that benefit policyholders. In 2005, the Lynd Company purchased two layers of insurance to cover various properties. Westchester Fire Insurance Company provided primary coverage…
by Veronica Martinsen Bates In a case worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the Texas Supreme Court definitively ruled that coverage to an additional insured, when acquired by contract, is limited not only by the policy terms but also by the terms of the contract itself. In Re Deepwater Horizon, 2015 WL…
by Tarron L. Gartner Greene v. Farmers Ins. Exch. and the SCOT’s Continuing Debate over the Material Breach Rule Co-author: Whitney Warren Last summer, the Texas Supreme Court’s decision in Greene v. Farmers Ins. Exchange, probably left most of us scratching our heads. In Greene, the Court reached the surprising conclusion –…
by Shannon Elizabeth Loyd Farmers Group Ins., Inc. v. Poteet This is an appeal from a jury verdict in January 2011 ultimately arising from a claim in November 2002 for the discharge of black smoke and soot from an HVAC system. As discussed below, this was the second appeal for…
by Judith Ann Kostura On May 16, 2014, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in McAllen Hosps., LP v. State Farm County Mut. Ins. Co., (Tex. 2014) No. 12-0983. The Court held that a release given to a liability insurer by an injured accident victim is invalid when that accident victim does…
by Jes Alexander Stowers has been around since 1929 during the days when the Commission of Appeals of Texas existed. Over the course of time, the Supreme Court of Texas has further defined the parameters of the Stowers duty: the limits of concurrent policies cannot be stacked, American Physicians Ins.…
by Judith Ann Kostura Central States v Health Special Risk 5th Circuit, June 22, 2014 Central States, an ERISA plan, sued some non-ERISA plans alleging that the non-ERISA plans were primary, as defined by the Central States' ERISA plan's Coordination of Benefits language, even though the non-ERISA plans had no…