Overview

We take our market leadership role seriously, and we constantly strive to protect the law for Texas policyholders. We have advocated for insurance legislation in Austin, taken important issues to the Texas Supreme Court and served as amicus counsel to foster the integrity of our state’s insurance laws.

$8 million in appraisal awards
$2 million+ penalties paid by insurer

Results

In Barbara Technologies Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds, the Texas Supreme Court agreed with us that insurance companies must always pay penalty interest under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (TPPCA) when claims are delayed or denied. Prior to Barbara Technologies, insurance companies could fight a claim for years, invoke insurance appraisal right up to trial, and then seek dismissal with impunity after an award was paid, thereby avoiding penalty interest and attorneys’ fees under the TPPCA. Barbara Technologies established that payment of an appraisal award does not absolve an insurance company of liability under the TPPCA.

Putting Barbara Technologies into practice, we filed suit for a developer who had obtained approximately $8 million in appraisal awards across his portfolio following a North Texas hail and windstorm. When the insurer refused to pay interest, we filed suit, moved for summary judgment and obtained a court order requiring payment of interest on many of the properties. On the eve of trial, the insurer settled and paid over $2 million in penalties over the appraisal awards.

When the insurance industry sought to limit Barbara Technologies, we weighed in as amicus counsel in Hinojos v. State Farm Lloyds and ensured that penalty interest is due even when the insurance claim was partially paid and not outright denied.

We have appeared as amicus counsel on other prominent case decisions. In Frymire Home Servs. v. Ohio Sec. Ins., we made sure that the concurrent causation doctrine was not misconstrued, and the insurance company settled immediately after we filed our brief. And in Texas Windstorm Association v. Pruski, we worked to protect the validity of court judgments for thousands of Texas policyholders, even siding with the insurer where its position had merit.

We have advised policyholders and policymakers alike, and continuously sought to ensure that Texas laws favor Texas businesses with strong protections against an aggressive insurance industry.