Bringing Family Law Expertise to SCOTX | Justice Debra Lehrmann | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Potential Changes to SCOTX Petition Practice | Justice Evan Young | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
An Unexpected Path to the Appellate Bench | Justice Rebeca Huddle | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Texas Supreme Court Draws Line on Attorney Immunity Privilege
Handling the Texas Supreme Court’s Public Information | Osler McCarthy | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Paths to Texas Judicial Selection Reform | Chief Justice Tom Phillips | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
A roofing contractor called Stonewater Roofing, Ltd. (Stonewater) challenged a Texas statute regulating public adjusters' conduct on the basis that the statute violates free speech and due process rights under the First and...more
Delaware Supreme Court concludes that a letter from a lawyer informing an insured of possible lawsuits without identifying potential plaintiffs or demanding payment is not a “claim for damages” within the meaning of...more
The Supreme Court of Texas has issued its much-anticipated opinion on an open attorney’s fees question in the area of First Party Property appraisals....more
A previous update analyzed the critical case of Monroe Guaranty Ins. Co. v. Bitco Gen. Ins. Corp., where the Texas Supreme Court recognized an exception to Texas’s “eight corners rule” but found the exception inapplicable to...more
It is an all-too-common scenario for insurance practitioners. Company A hires an independent contractor to perform work on its premises. Their agreement specifies that Contractor will procure liability insurance—often...more
While not often in the limelight, standard business practice relies on service contracts and, in turn, risk transfer through those contracts. Critical issues can arise regarding whether a party seeking additional insured...more
Additional insured disputes can sometimes get complicated. How much coverage the additional insured gets is often a hotly contested issue, especially when the named insured has coverage above the minimum limits it promised...more
Primary and excess insurance carriers and their counsel need to pay close attention to a new Texas Supreme Court case Exxon Mobil vs. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Starr Indemnity &...more
For Presentation at the 20th Annual Advanced Insurance Law Course, June 1-2, 2023, Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, Texas - No Texas insurance practitioner disputes that an insured may only recover for...more
Last year, the Texas Supreme Court adopted a narrow exception to the state’s eight-corners rule, and allowed the consideration of extrinsic evidence to determine the duty to defend. The exception arguably raised more...more
In Elephant Insurance Co., LLC v. Kenyon, the Supreme Court of Texas reiterated the framework of an insurer’s common-law duties to insureds under Texas law. In applying that framework to the facts of the case, the Court...more
You’ll find some notable decisions in our May Insurance Update. Appeals over pandemic-related business interruption losses have made their way up to state high courts. And so far, these courts have continued the trend...more
In a pair of opinions issued last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Texas businesses’ COVID-19 related income loss was not covered by standard business income and extra expense (“BI/EE”) endorsement in...more
Welcome to CICR’s annual recap of insurance cases you should know about — and others in the pipeline to watch. You can read about our selections for “Cases to Know” and “Cases to Watch” below. In the last year, we saw...more
Just a few short years ago, there was a bright line rule under Texas law concerning appraisal awards. If an insurer timely paid an appraisal award, that payment extinguished all of the insurer’s contractual and...more
The 2012 Macondo Well blowout and Deepwater Horizon rig explosion gave rise to a slew of lawsuits. Our subject today is one of them. ...more
In a recent dispute involving a crop insurance policy, the Texas Supreme Court held that an independent insurance agency could not compel arbitration of certain claims brought against it in state court by an insured (JJ...more
On April 13, 2018, the Texas Supreme Court issued its highly-anticipated decision on rehearing in USAA Tex. Lloyds Co. v. Menchaca, 2018 Tex. LEXIS 313 (Tex. Apr. 13, 2018). This replaced an earlier opinion dated April 7,...more
Under Texas law, recovery of past medical expenses is limited to the amount actually paid or incurred. Section 41.0105 was enacted in 2003 by the Texas Legislature as a tort reform initiative to limit past medical damages to...more
Many commercial and residential property insurance claims arising from major hurricanes like Hurricane Harvey present damage caused by multiple causes of loss, some of which may be covered (e.g., wind) and some of which may...more
When (if ever) are an insurer’s attorney’s fees and billing information discoverable in a coverage dispute? Though the question is straightforward, the answer can vary from case to case and jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The...more
In Great American Insurance Co. v. Hamel, 2017 WL 2623067 (Tex. June 16, 2017), the Texas Supreme Court more precisely defined the circumstances under which an insurance company that wrongfully fails to defend an insured may...more
Are an insurer’s attorney’s fee bills discoverable in first party claims? In In re Nat’l Lloyds Ins. Co., 2017 Tex. LEXIS 522 (Tex. 2017), the Texas Supreme Court considered this question in a hail MDL dispute and answered...more
Any Texas lawyer with even a passing interest in insurance law knows that if you want to see sparks fly, just utter the word “appraisal” near a couple of insurance lawyers. If you really want fireworks, make sure one...more
California Court: Rejected Demand Within Policy Limits Not Necessary for Bad Faith Claim - Why it matters: Insurers must proceed with caution when they become aware that a settlement within policy limits is possible,...more