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
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
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently applied the newly adopted Texas Supreme Court decision outlining those circumstances in which extrinsic evidence may be used to determine an insurer's duty to defend...more
Texas practitioners can add a new term to their legal vocabulary: “the Monroe exception.” The Texas Supreme Court has finally weighed in on whether to create an exception to the eight corners rule when determining if an...more
In February, the Supreme Court of Texas issued two opinions important to Texas’s duty-to-defend analysis. First, the court settled a split among Texas appellate courts by endorsing a limited exception to the eight-corners...more
For decades, an insurer’s duty to defend under Texas law was determined exclusively by reviewing the insurance contract and the allegations of the complaint under the “eight-corners rule.” All of this changed last week when,...more
On February 11, 2022, the Texas Supreme Court handed the insurance industry an overall victory in an inter-insurer dispute by recognizing an exception to the "eight corners rule" permitting insurers to rely upon extrinsic...more
The Texas Supreme Court has accepted certified questions from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to clarify Texas’ eight-corners rule for determining the existence of a duty to defend....more