News & Analysis as of

Texas Summary Judgment

Phelps Dunbar

Texas Court Could Limit Risk by Defining Exposure Trigger for Long-Tail Claims

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The Northern District of Texas recently issued a pivotal decision for long-tail injury cases. It clarified that under Texas law, excess liability coverage for long-tail injury claims can center on an exposure trigger theory....more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Texas Federal District Court Grants Summary Judgment on FDCPA and TDCA Claims Over Texts and Calls to a Wrong Number

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In a recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants in a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and Texas Debt Collection Act...more

White and Williams LLP

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Texas Court Finds Construction Defect Claims Were Inherently Undiscoverable, Tolls Statute of...

In Morningside Ministries v. Koontz McCombs Construction, Ltd., No. 08:23-00332-cv, 2025 Tex. App. Lexis 3584 (Morningside), the Court of Appeals of Texas (Court of Appeals) considered whether the plaintiff’s construction...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Texas Business Court Quarterly Update – Q1 and Q2 2025

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As a part of Vinson & Elkins’ Texas Business Court Quarterly Update, the following update summarizes the Texas Business Court opinions—categorized by primary issue—that have been released since September 1, 2024 through the...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Plain Language Meets Common Sense: Hidden Traps in Oil Patch Contract Interpretation

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What happens when a court reads your contract literally for one issue but decides what 'makes sense' for another? A geophysicist just found out. In early April 2025, the Amarillo Court of Appeals reversed in part and...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Are Statute of Limitations Battles Becoming the New Frontline in Water Injection Cases?

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When your neighbor's wastewater tanks your oil wells, when exactly can you sue? A Texas court wrestles with a timing question reshaping industry battles....more

Gray Reed

Texas Operator Protected From Royalty Payment Error

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The takeaway from DDR Weinert, Limited et al v. Ovintiv USA Inc. is that equitable recoupment rescued a royalty payor from its mistaken payment of royalties. But first, The events. The Richters were mineral lessors...more

Zelle  LLP

Holding an Insured to its Duties and Burdens

Zelle LLP on

Once in a while, there is an insurance case that addresses numerous “common” issues and reaffirms the parties’ respective duties in supporting and adjusting claims, promptly making repairs, and mitigating loss. The recent...more

Zelle  LLP

When Coverage Disagreements Are Justified: The Bona Fide Dispute Doctrine in Action

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In Texas, bad faith claims arising under the Texas Insurance Code or the common law are routinely asserted by plaintiffs in first-party insurance disputes. While these causes of action are frequently pled, mere disagreement...more

Zelle  LLP

Court Analyzes “Forces of Nature” in Applying Section 542A of the Texas Insurance Code

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Recently, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, rejected an insured’s attempt to reframe its claim from a “forces of nature” claim and enforced Section 542A.006 of the Texas...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Production Disputes and Estoppel Claims Cloud Lease Termination in Milam County

McGinnis Lochridge on

In this lease termination case (Pruett v. River Land Holdings, LLC, No. 03-22-00478-CV, 2024 WL 1745652, at *1 [Tex. App.—Austin Apr. 24, 2024, no pet.]), the Austin Court of Appeals was tasked with examining a cessation of...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Write it Down or Forever Hold Your Peace: Texas Supreme Court Rejects Fraud Claims Based on Oral Representations in Mineral Deals

Baker Botts L.L.P. on

On Friday, May 9th, the Supreme Court of Texas addressed important issues regarding the enforcement of written contractual representations in its per curiam opinion styled Roxo Energy Co., LLC et al. v. Baxsto, LLC, ---...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Can "Free of Cost" Term Achieve Point-of-Sale Royalty Base?

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A lessee who halts production for less than 40 days and resumes without drilling or reworking does not terminate the lease. The continuous development clause keeps the lease active, and the cessation clause allows resumed...more

Zelle  LLP

“Occurrence” Provisions Within Excess Policies Support an Exposure Trigger Theory Application for Asbestos-Related Claims

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Asbestos fibers, chemical fumes, environmental pollutants—what do they have in common? They all involve injuries that manifest over time and are continuously at the center of the complex exposure trigger debate....more

Zelle  LLP

Concurrent Causation is Key – Fifth Circuit Holds Insured to its Causative Burden

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The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment granted by the bankruptcy court in favor of commercial property insurer in a Winter Storm Uri claim, holding that the insured motel owners...more

Zelle  LLP

Any is Not All and The Future is Not Now: The Contours of the Cosmetic Damage Exclusion Taking Shape

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In Iyengar v. Liberty Insurance Corporation, No. SA-21-CV-1091-FB, 2024 WL 5505300 (W.D. Tex. Dec. 13, 2024), District Judge Biery denied Plaintiffs’ Motion for Clarification regarding Magistrate Judge Bemporad’s...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Diligence Over Delay: Texas Supreme Court’s Recent Decision Highlights the Risks of Discovery Deferral

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Raoger Corp. v. Myers, No. 23-0662 (Tex. Apr. 11, 2025) – one of the Texas Supreme Court’s most recent opinions on the summary judgment standard – highlights the importance of diligent discovery practices and the potentially...more

Jackson Walker

Texas Business Court Upholds Fiduciary Duty Waivers and Clarifies Limits on Partnership Agreement Provisions

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Only six months into a complicated partnership dispute, the Business Court of Texas, 1st Division, issued a thorough summary judgment opinion and order in the case of Primexx Energy Opportunity Fund, LP v. Primexx Energy...more

McGinnis Lochridge

Winter Storm Uri and Force Majeure: The Legal Battles Continue

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Winter Storm Uri sent shockwaves through Texas, freezing gas supplies at a time of critical need and plunging the state into widespread power outages. In the aftermath, the courts have been flooded with force majeure claims,...more

Zelle  LLP

Southern District of Texas Holds Benefits-Lost Rule Inapplicable, Alleged Delay in ALE Payments Not an “Independent Injury”

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On October 17, 2024, Judge Andrew S. Hanen in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division properly held that: (1) the Benefits-Lost rule does not apply where the insured did not...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Foundation, Not Façade — The Fifth Circuit Affirms the Proper Basis Requirement for Admissibility of Expert Opinions in Newsome v....

In a toxic tort case, plaintiffs must establish general causation. If a substance is incapable of causing the type of injury plaintiff claims, then it certainly didn’t cause theirs. Under Texas law, toxic tort plaintiffs must...more

King & Spalding

Texas Magistrate Judge Recommends Summary Judgment Against Texas Wind Farm on Winter Storm Uri Force Majeure Claims

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On September 29, 2023, U.S. Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued a report and recommendation on a summary judgment motion in a case arising out of fixed-volume...more

Proskauer - Whistleblower Defense

Texas District Court Grants Summary Judgment on SOX Whistleblower Counterclaim

On August 6, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted an employer’s motion for summary judgment on a SOX whistleblower retaliation counterclaim, holding that the former employee failed to...more

Porter Hedges LLP

UPDATE: FTC Non-Compete Ban Blocked by Federal Judge in Texas

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As we predicted back in our May post, the sky is not falling in the world of non-compete agreements. After the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) issued its controversial final rule on April 23, 2024, which voided existing...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Texas Federal Court Sets Aside FTC’s Non-Compete Rule, Halting It From Taking Effect on September 4, 2024

On August 20, 2024, in Ryan LLC v. Federal Trade Commission, No. 3:24-cv-00986-E (N.D. Tex.), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs and ordered the...more

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