The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a long-standing Texas rule: the duty to defend is not implicated unless the insured complies with the policy’s notice-of-suit requirements and demands...more
Using general contract interpretation principles, the Fifth Circuit reversed summary judgment in favor of an insurer and found a duty to defend Landry’s in a data breach lawsuit. Landry’s Inc. v. The Insurance Company of the...more
7/26/2021
/ Appeals ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Duty to Defend ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Motion for Summary Judgment ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Reversal
In July of 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit revisited and affirmed its prediction that Texas courts will not allow extrinsic evidence to determine an insurer’s duty to defend where such evidence...more
2/18/2021
/ ATV Accidents ,
Bodily Injury ,
Denial of Insurance Coverage ,
Duty to Defend ,
Extrinsic Evidence ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Litigation ,
Negligence ,
Policy Exclusions ,
Policy Terms ,
Reservation of Rights ,
State Farm
In Texas, and as a general rule, only the four corners of the policy and the four corners of the petition against the insured are relevant in deciding whether the duty to defend applies. Richards v. State Farm Lloyds,...more
In Hershey Creamery Company v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Liberty Insurance Corporation, No. 1:18-CV-694, 2019 WL 1900397 (M.D. Penn. May 6, 2019) the court found that a self-serve milkshake machine and related...more
Texas applies the “cause” test to determine the number of accidents or occurrences, but its emphasis on the “liability-triggering event” requires an analysis of intervening causes. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals...more
This summer in Nicholas Petroleum, Inc. v. Mid-Continent Cas. Co., 2015 WL 4456185, 2015 Tex. App. LEXIS 7489 (Tex.App., Jul. 21, 2015), a Dallas panel of Texas’ intermediate level appellate court rejected policyholder...more