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November 18, 2025
NEW ORLEANS — A qui tam relator filed a petition for panel rehearing of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming a lower court’s dismissal of the relator’s complaint as “insufficiently plausible and particular” in a suit alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) for a rehabilitation facility’s alleged presentation for payment to Medicare false claims regarding patient admission services related to sales representatives’ screening narratives.
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November 17, 2025
By Robert M. Hall
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November 12, 2025
DALLAS — A Texas federal judge denied an insured’s motion to remand a water and mold damage suit and accepted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and report that cautioned the insured, a pro se litigant, from relying on artificial intelligence (AI) after finding numerous nonexistent legal cases cited in the insured’s filings.
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November 12, 2025
AMARILLO, Texas — A Texas federal judge granted a property insurer’s motion to dismiss two insurance adjusters from its insureds’ breach of contract suit arising out of a storm damage coverage dispute because the insurer accepted liability for any claims alleged against the insurance adjusters.
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November 10, 2025
By Rachel E. Hudgins, Kevin V. Small and Charlotte E. Leszinske
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November 11, 2025
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — An insured waived the right to seek attorney fees because the insured and auto insurer did not have an enforceable agreement to bifurcate a claim for attorney fees from a liability claim and because the insured failed to object when the jury was discharged prior to considering the insured’s request for attorney fees, the Texas 13th District Court of Appeals panel said in issuing a revised opinion.
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November 10, 2025
HOUSTON — In a case of first impression, a Texas appellate court affirmed a lower court ruling denying a motion for summary judgment filed by a woman sued by a county government over damage to its vehicle in an auto accident, finding that because the woman failed to show that the county was a “self-insurer” pursuant to the Texas Motor Vehicle Safety-Responsibility Act (Safety and Responsibility Act) and the Texas Property and Casualty Insurance Guaranty Act, the lower court did not err when denying the woman’s motion for summary judgment.
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November 05, 2025
HOUSTON — The majority of a First District Texas Court of Appeals panel denied a workers’ compensation claimant’s motion for rehearing and rehearing en banc, refusing to reconsider its ruling that a trial court did not err in finding that the claimant failed to meet her burden of proving that she is entitled to continuing workers’ compensation benefits.
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November 04, 2025
DEL RIO, Texas — A homeowners insurer is not entitled to summary judgment because genuine issues of fact exist regarding whether a hailstorm occurred during the applicable policy period and whether the loss is covered under the policy, a Texas federal judge said in agreeing with a magistrate judge’s report and adopting the magistrate judge’s recommendation to deny the insurer’s motion.
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November 04, 2025
SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge accepted a magistrate judge’s recommendation to dismiss an insured’s suit against an auto insurer for lack of jurisdiction, agreeing with the magistrate judge that the amount in controversy does not meet the federal minimum requirement of $75,000 and that it is unclear whether complete diversity of citizenship exists between the parties.
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November 04, 2025
AUSTIN, Texas — A trial court did not err in finding that a commercial auto insurer had no duty to defend its insured and owed no coverage for damages incurred to the insured’s vehicle because the insured signed a named driver exclusion that precluded the insured from driving an insured vehicle and relieved the auto insurer of any coverage obligation if the insured, who did not possess a driver’s license, was involved in an auto accident while driving an insured vehicle, the Third District Texas Court of Appeals said.
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October 31, 2025
SAN ANTONIO — An insured’s bad faith claims, alleged under the Texas Insurance Code and Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), cannot proceed because the insured failed to show that the homeowners insurer’s coverage decision or conduct in handling the insured’s storm damage claim were unreasonable, a Texas federal judge said.
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October 30, 2025
SAN ANTONIO — An insured church’s bad faith claim alleged against its insurer cannot proceed because the insurer’s conduct in handling the insured’s storm damage claim does not rise to the level of bad faith, a Texas federal judge said in partially granting and partially denying the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
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October 28, 2025
NEW ORLEANS — Granting what it construed as a petition for panel rehearing in a reimbursement dispute over out-of-network care, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a slightly revised substituted opinion with the same result as the original — it mostly vacated and remanded summary judgment against health insurance plans.
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October 24, 2025
SAN ANTONIO, Texas — An insured apartment complex owner’s breach of contract suit is barred by an insurance policy’s two-year suit limitation provision because the insured’s claims accrued when the insurer initially issued its coverage decision and the insured did not file suit until more than four years after the coverage denial, a Texas federal judge said Oct. 23 in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
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October 21, 2025
DALLAS — A tax firm filed a notice of supplemental authority in a Texas federal court in support of its pending motion to compel the Internal Revenue Service to file the administrative record in its challenge to the agency’s final rule on microcaptive insurance arrangements, citing a judge’s order in a parallel case involving the same final rule that directed the IRS to produce the administrative record.
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October 20, 2025
BEAUMONT, Texas — A sustainable chemical company insured filed a notice in a Texas federal court indicating that it has reached a settlement with its insurer of its breach of contract and declaratory judgment lawsuit seeking to obtain coverage for the full value of its business interruption loss caused by an explosion at a Texas plant.
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October 20, 2025
HOUSTON — An insured’s breach of contract and extracontractual claims against her homeowners insurer cannot proceed because the insured breached the policy’s duty to cooperate provision by failing to provide the insurer with requested documents needed to adjust her water damage claim, a Texas federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
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October 15, 2025
PECOS, Texas — An insured homeowner failed to present evidence showing that her insurer acted unreasonably in handling a claim for storm damage to her home, a Texas federal judge said in granting the homeowners insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment on claims alleging violations of the Texas Insurance Code.
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October 10, 2025
NEW ORLEANS — A district court properly dismissed an excess liability insurer’s declaratory judgment suit because the insurer’s duty to indemnify its insured and the insured’s employee in an underlying negligence suit cannot be determined until after the underlying suit is resolved, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.
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October 08, 2025
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 7 held that, absent an independent injury, an insured cannot file tort claims against an insurer under Texas’ Unfair Settlement Practices Act after receiving an appraisal award and statutory interest, affirming a lower federal court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer in a coverage dispute over wind and hail damage.
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October 08, 2025
SAN ANTONIO — The Texas Fourth District Court of Appeals on Oct. 8 denied a homeowners insurer’s petition for a writ of mandamus in a subrogation suit stemming from a roofing contractor’s defective work, refusing to review a trial court’s decision to set aside a default judgment and final judgment by default entered against the roofing contractor.
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October 08, 2025
FORT WORTH, Texas — An insured’s claims for breach of contract and violations of the Texas Insurance Code cannot proceed against a property insurer because they are barred by the two-year statute of limitations, a Texas federal judge said in granting the insurer’s motion for summary judgment.
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October 08, 2025
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a decedent’s mother after determining that the decedent’s wife provided evidence that creates an issue of fact as to whether the insured designated his wife as a beneficiary under his life insurance policy.
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October 07, 2025
SAN ANTONIO — A Texas federal judge dismissed an insured’s suit seeking to recover underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits under an auto policy after the parties notified the court that a settlement was reached.