Recent Publication:
Alissa Christopher and Greg Hudson discuss Richards v. State Farm Lloyds and whether the absence of a clause requiring a carrier to defend claims that are “groundless, false or fraudulent” means that the “eight-corners” rule does not apply when determining the existence of a duty to defend.
Gregory S. Hudson focuses his practice on insurance coverage matters, and has experience in first and third party defense matters and bad faith claims for domestic and overseas carriers. He has also represented clients in complex product liability and toxic tort litigation involving both fact development and complex e-discovery management. Greg routinely consults with corporate and insurance clients regarding litigation matters, and represents those clients in both trial and appellate matters.
Greg earned his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Trinity University and his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Texas School of Law. Greg has been married for 20 years, and has two children, Sarah (12) and Christian (9).
Publications
March 25, 2020
Alissa Christopher and Greg Hudson discuss Richards v. State Farm Lloyds and whether the absence of a clause requiring a carrier to defend claims that are “groundless, false or fraudulent” means that the “eight-corners” rule does not apply when determining the existence of a duty to defend.
April 20, 2018
Greg Hudson discusses the Texas Supreme Court's decision in Menchaca v. USAA Texas Lloyds Company. The court articulates five rules when extracontractual causes of action are available even when there has been no breach of the insurance policy and clarifies the procedural steps a court should follow in determining which rule applies.
December 14, 2017
A recent malpractice case highlighted this issue. In Johnson v. Proselect Insurance, the doctor/insured contended that the insurer acted in bad faith by settling a claim after trial without the doctor’s consent. The doctor contended that the case should have been appealed, which would have...
August 14, 2017
On May 26, 2017, Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed into law Texas House Bill 1774/Senate Bill 10. The new law makes changes to the Texas Insurance Code that will impact the way in which weather claims are brought and how those claims may be defended. The new law becomes effective on September 1,...
July 06, 2017
In Madrigal v. Allstate Indemnity Co., Cause No. 16-55830 (9th Cir. June 15, 2017), the Ninth Circuit upheld a jury award assessing $14 million in bad faith damages, even though it was unclear whether the insurer could have met the settlement demand which it allegedly refused in bad faith.
The...
May 11, 2017
Recently, the Eleventh Circuit, applying Georgia law, reaffirmed that an insurer cannot be liable for negligently failing to settle a case unless the settlement demand provides protection to the insured against all potential claims, even those which have not been asserted.
Linthicum v. Mendakota...
March 01, 2017
Greg Hudson discusses the Texas Supreme Court decision that the language of the insured v. insured exclusion also includes any claim where a party has stepped into the shoes of an insured.
January 06, 2017
Mississippi essentially has three levels of claim when insurance is at issue: (1) mere breach of contract, allowing recovery of contract damages; (2) breach of contract + no arguable basis for breach, which entitles recovery of consequential damages; and (3) breach of contract + no arguable basis...
December 14, 2016
When does receipt of a pre-suit claim notice letter trigger an insurance carrier’s obligation to provide a defense and/or indemnity? In Sanders v. Phoenix Insurance Co., the First Circuit provided some guidance to this question, holding that a pre-suit notice letter would not trigger a carrier’s...
September 15, 2016
According to both the appellant and the appellee, the Texas Supreme Court already decided this issue. Each, of course, finds a different answer.
Cause No., 14-0721, USAA Texas Lloyds Co. v. Gail Menchaca, in the Texas Supreme Court, arises from an unusual fact pattern and some unusual jury...
July 22, 2016
Virtually all property insurance policies contain an appraisal clause, which outlines the appraisal procedure in broad terms. Those broad terms sometimes do not provide much guidance about the process, or about the effect which an appraisal award may have. A case in point is Graber v. State Farm...
May 12, 2016
Carriers rely on application representations regarding the existence of potential claims. Sometimes, the carrier learns after the fact that an applicant may not have reported all known potential claims. What can/should the carrier do? A recent example is found in Continental Casualty v....
May 04, 2016
In CE and CLE courses, we hear all the time that the most often cited reason for a grievance or complaint is lack of communication. This truism provides a useful rule of thumb to avoid bad faith claims. Remember, for most claimants, the event giving rise to an insurance claim often is the most...
April 20, 2016
When discussing bad faith in the third party context, most of the discussion properly centers on the duty to settle a claim. However, other actions taken by a policyholder and carrier can have an impact. The recent case of State Farm v. El-Moslimany provides a good example. In El-Moslimany, State...
April 11, 2016
Ron Tigner and Gregory Hudson discuss the growing trend of jurisdictions no longer recognizing any distinction between the recoverability of loss of use damages between partial and total destruction of personal property.
January 15, 2016
In J & D Towing, LLC v. American Alternative Insurance Corporation, No. 14-0574, 2016 WL 91201 (Tex. Jan. 8, 2016), the Texas Supreme Court considered J & D Towing, LLC’s (“J & D”) claim for loss of use damages under its underinsured motorist insurance policy, after J & D’s only...
January 13, 2016
Gregory Hudson and Adam Gutmann discuss the Supreme Court of Texas's decision that installation of a faulty component does not cause physical injury to the machinery onto which it is installed, even when removal of the faulty component causes damage during the repair process.
September 23, 2015
Last year in Patterson, et al. v. Home State County Mut. Ins. Co., 2014 Tex. App. LEXIS 4460, 2014 WL 1676931 (Tex.App., Apr. 24, 2014), the Texas First Court of Appeals (Houston) held that an insurer was not obligated to accept a settlement demand unless that offer encompassed all claimants and...
May 14, 2015
In an opinion handed down last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals refused to adopt a new cause of action under Kentucky law for a reverse bad faith claim by an insurer against its insured where the Kentucky Supreme Court had not previously done so in State Auto Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co. v....
February 27, 2015
In In re Deepwater Horizon, Cause No. 13-0670, Slip Op., Feb. 13, 2015, the Texas Supreme Court held that an allocation of liability found in an “insured contract” would determine the coverage provided to an additional insured in a general liability policy. Specifically, the court held that the additional insured had coverage under the general liability policy of the named insured only to the extent the named insured was required to obtain coverage for the additional insured.
November 18, 2014
In Santacruz v. Allstate Texas Lloyds, Inc., 2014 WL 5870429 (Nov. 13, 2014), the 5th Circuit allowed a policyholder to pursue a claim for common law and statutory bad faith even though the policyholder repaired the alleged damage before the insurer was able to observe that damage.
November 10, 2014
In Shamoun & Norman, LLP v. Ironshore Indemnity, Inc., Cause No. 3:14-1340, In the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, the federal district court construed a professional liability policy issued by Ironshore to require a defense of the law firm policyholder in a fee dispute, despite an absence of allegations that the insured law firm negligently provided any legal service.
September 08, 2014
In Greene v. Farmers Insurance Exchange, the Texas Supreme Court clarified the scope and application of § 862.054 of the Texas Insurance Code, the “anti-technicality” statute, holding that the clause would only operate in situations where the policyholder affirmatively violated an obligation created under the policy. The court further held that public policy did not change this result, despite the concurring opinion of two justices that argued that the court’s opinion created confusion as to whether and when public policy would dictate a different result. Specifically, the concurrence argued that the majority opinion failed to distinguish the instant case from prior cases involving a “nonmaterial breach” by a policyholder.
June 17, 2014
Gregory Hudson, of the Global Insurance department writes an article titled" Guilty D&O May Lose Defense Costos, Indemnification Too," in Law360.
In Protection Strategies Inc. v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Co., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia allowed an insurer to recoup over $670,000 in costs paid for its insured first to respond to government subpoenas and then for the insured and its key employees to defend themselves against claims for governmental fraud and conspiracy.
May 05, 2014
In Protection Strategies, Inc. v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Co., the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia allowed an insurer to recoup more than $670,000 in costs paid for the insured first to respond to government subpoenas and then for the insured and its key employees to defend themselves against claims for governmental fraud and conspiracy.
April 29, 2014
In Betzdolt v. Auto Club Group Insurance Company, a Michigan resident was allowed to proceed with a bad faith claim against her insurer in Florida, even though the insurer did not sell policies in Florida, did not deliver policies in Florida, and was not authorized to write insurance policies in Florida. Betzdolt arises in the context of a third-party liability case (car accident) in which the Michigan resident was being defended by the Michigan insurer in Florida.
January 27, 2014
In Ewing Construction Co. Inc. v. Amerisure Ins. Co., No. 12-0661, 2014 WL 185035 (Tex. Jan. 17, 2014), the Texas Supreme Court held that a general contractor who agrees to perform construction work in a “good and workmanlike manner” does not “assume liability” for damages arising out of the contractor’s defective work so as to trigger the contractual liability exclusion in a commercial general liability policy. This holding substantially clarifies the Texas Supreme Court’s prior holding in Gilbert Texas Construction LP v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, 327 S.W.3d 118 (Tex. 2010).
October 24, 2013
In Brechbill v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., No. 1111117, ___ So. 3d ___, 2013 WL 5394444, 2013 Ala. LEXIS 126 (Ala. Sept. 27, 2013), the Alabama Supreme Court held that there is only one, as opposed to two, causes of action for bad faith. More important, the Alabama Supreme Court held that a bad faith claim, no matter how plead, will not survive when an insurer can show a debatable reason for the denial.
March 07, 2013
Following considerable public comment, the Texas Supreme Court revised and issued final approval of new rules providing for expedited trials and dismissal of baseless claims. Despite pleas from various factions, however, the new rules maintain their mandatory nature. The revisions do, however, contain material changes to the Alternative Dispute Resolution provision of new Rule 169 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
February 15, 2013
In 2011, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 274, directing the Texas Supreme Court to promulgate new rules reducing the expense and delay of litigation. House Bill 274 calls for early
November 06, 2012
On October 15, 2012, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit – applying Texas law – addressed another Cumis counsel matter. See Coats, Rose, Yale, Ryman & Lee, P.C. v. Navigators Specialty Ins. Co., No. 12-10055, 2012 WL 4858194 (5th Cir. Oct. 15, 2012).
May 01, 2012
Split Decisions: The Outcome of Court Cases Concerning Appraisals Varies from State to State for Insurers - Best’s Review -
January 29, 2009
In this issue, we identify key coverage developments from the year 2008. We summarize recent court decisions dealing with coverage for toxic torts, environmental losses, construction defect and property losses. We also address new decisions in the areas of insolvency and reinsurance.