Texas Nuclear Verdict on Appeal
What happens when an appeal is taken on the largest personal injury verdict for actual damages in Texas history? We may never find out.
In October of 2021, a jury in Harris County reached a verdict in the matter of Cruz v. Allied Aviation. Cruz was a United Airlines ramp service agent serving as a pedestrian wing walker on the tarmac of George Bush Intercontinental Airport. While working, Cruz was hit by an Allied Aviation refueling van on the tarmac and was paralyzed. During his time in the hospital, Cruz suffered a stroke because of his injuries and a preexisting condition and lost the abi
Excess Insurance and Stowers Duty
What happens when an insurer does not act reasonably in deciding whether to settle a claim within policy coverage and policy limits? A federal jury in Houston recently delivered a verdict finding that a primary liability insurer breached its so-called Stowers duty, absolving the excess insurer of any responsibility for an $11.2 million verdict in the underlying liability action.
In Westport Insurance Corp. v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Insurance Co., Westport, the primary professional liability insurer for an insurance agency, Insurance Alliance, sought to have the agency’s umbrella insu
Southwest Meltdown Lawsuit
What happens when winter weather disrupts a major airline’s operations and strands thousands of passengers for days on end? Unlike Southwest Airlines’ planes in December 2022, the first lawsuit regarding the meltdown has arrived early.
Tens of thousands of flights were delayed or cancelled during the December holiday break in 2022 because of abnormally cold weather across most of the United States. Southwest Airlines was the most impacted airline and the last airline to resume normal operations. The extensive delays and cancellations by Southwest were attributed to staffing issues and fa
Voiding Coverage and Intent to Deceive
To void coverage, is it necessary for an insurer to prove that a policyholder had an intent to deceive when making material representations in an insurance application? The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to hear this issue, with potential widespread implications.
In 2017, Sergio Arce applied for a life insurance policy with American National. In response to a question on the application about whether he had ever been diagnosed with or treated for or given medical advice regarding hepatitis C, Sergio answered, no. However medical records showed that Sergio was diagnosed with hepatitis C in
3 Risk Management Lessons from the FTX Bankruptcy
What lessons can members of the design and construction industry learn from the sudden and cataclysmic failure of FTX, the crypto-currency exchange? There are many, but we will focus on three of the most significant ones.
On November 11, 2022, FTX and various related entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in Delaware. In support of the Petition for Bankruptcy, John J. Ray, III, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer the FTX debtors filed a declaration with the bankruptcy court. Among the conclusions Ray reached on his first day as CEO was the following.
Never in my career hav
