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Can an insurer seek to escape liability for denial of a settlement demand under the Stowers doctrine by filing a declaratory judgment action in federal court after the jury has already rendered a verdict in excess of the settlement demand and insurance policy limits? In July of 2024, we reported that at least one court thought that the insurer could. https://www.gstexlaw.com/policy-limits-demand-not-stowers-demand/ However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently reversed that ruling. As a refresher, in Golden Bear Insurance Company v. 34th S&S, L.L.C. d/b/a Concr

The 2025 Texas Legislative session is in full swing. What bills are the Texas Senate or House currently considering that potentially impact the construction industry? We discuss a few.  Securing Reserved Funds/Retainage.  S.B. 1612 by Sen. Nathan Johnson/H.B. 3287 by Rep. Keith Bell.   Under Texas’ lien laws, Chapter 53 of the Texas Property Code, non-public property owners are required to reserve 10 percent of the contract price until the completion of a construction project. Known as reserved funds (previously known as retainage), each payment application submitted by a contractor

What is the effect of a course of construction exclusion (COCE) on coverage for property damage in a phased construction project? The United States Court of Appeals for the  11th Circuit, in a case of first impression, recently held that the COCE precludes coverage for damage to completed portions of a phased project when all phases are not yet complete. In Liberty Surplus Insurance v. Kaufman Lynn Construction, JM Family Enterprises hired Kaufman to build its new corporate campus in South Florida. The campus was to consist of three office buildings, a training and conference center, a sports

May a general contractor rescind an offer of employment to a project engineer on the basis that the prospective employee used medical marijuana? A Federal Judge recently held that the prospective employee could proceed with his claims of discriminatory hiring practices under Pennsylvania state law. In Davis v. The Albert M. Higley Company, LLC, Albert M. Higley Company (AMHC), a construction general contractor, offered Brian Davis employment as a project engineer. The employment offer was contingent upon a pre-employment drug test. According to Davis’s lawsuit, Davis was diagnosed with anxie

Are inside sales representatives working for a construction supply company entitled to overtime pay? The United States Supreme Court, in declining further review, has let stand a federal appellate court’s decision that the employees were misclassified as exempt and are entitled to overtime pay. In Su v. FW Webb Company, a wholesale plumbing and HVAC supply company, F.W. Webb Company (Webb), classified its Inside Sales Representatives (ISRs) as administrative employees. After concluding an investigation that began in 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division filed su

Does a “follow-form” excess insurance policy mean that it must follow the form of the underlying, primary insurance policy? According to the Texas Supreme Court, not necessarily. In The Ohio Casualty Insurance Company v. Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. et al., the Texas Supreme Court examined whether a follow-form excess insurance policy must cover a policyholder’s defense costs after the primary insurance policies had exhausted. The coverage dispute arose from a drilling-rig incident that led to multiple lawsuits which the policyholder, Patterson, and its insurers settled after extensive lit

Is an empty head, but pure heart a legal defense to using generative artificial intelligence to do your work? For attorneys, the answer has been and continues to be, no. Two recent cases illustrate why. In February 2025, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Dinsmore for the U.S District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Mid Central Operating Engineers Health and Welfare Fund v. HoosierVac, LLC, recommended that Rafael Ramirez, a Texas attorney, be sanctioned $15,000 for relying entirely on generative AI to perform legal research. After the Magistrate Judge was unable to find a case that Ram