Coreslab Structures (Texas), Inc. v. Scottsdale Insurance Company

496 S.W.3d 884, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 8077, 2016 WL 4060256
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided July 28, 2016·No. NO. 14-14-00865-CV·Published·Cited by 7 cases

Opinion

*885 OPINION

Kem Thompson Frost, Chief Justice

This appeal arises from a summary-judgment dismissing claims for .breach of contract, bad faith under Chapter 541 of the Insurance Code, and violations of the Prompt Payment of Claims Act, brought by an alleged additional insured against the insurer under a commercial general liability policy. On appeal, the main issue is whether the trial court erred in concluding as a matter of law that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover damages based on attorney’s fees and expenses the plaintiff incurred in the underlying suits. We conclude that the trial court did not err in granting summary judgment on this ground and that the plaintiff did not challenge all of the independent summary-judgment grounds asserted against the Prompt Payment of Claims Act claim. Because Coreslab has not shown that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment, we affirm.

I. Factual And PROCEDURAL Background

The Memorial Hermann Tower, at Interstate 10 and Gessner in Houston, sustained water damage during two separate rain events, spawning two lawsuits in the trial court involving claims for damagés in excess of $38 million (hereinafter collectively the “Underlying Lawsuits”). Memorial Hermann Hospital System asserted claims against various parties, including appellanVplaintiff Coreslab Structures (Texas), Inc. and its subcontractor CN Construction, Inc. The trial court consolidated the Underlying Lawsuits.

Scottsdale’s Denial of Demand for Defense as an Additional Insured

Coreslab tendered the defense of the Underlying Lawsuits to CN Construction and demanded a defense as an additional insured under CN- Construction’s insurance policy, asking CN Construction to tender the demand to the insurer under the applicable policy. Appellee/defendant Scottsdale Insurance Company, the insurer under the applicable Commercial General Liability policy issued to CN Construction, responded to Coreslab, notifying Coreslab that Scottsdale had determined there was no additional-insured coverage available to Coreslab.

Other Insurer’s Payment of Insured’s Defense Costs

After Scottsdale refused to pay Cores-lab’s defense costs in the Underlying Lawsuits, Lexington Insurance Company, the insurer under one of Coreslab’s insurance policies, paid $825,642.32 to Coreslab’s defense .counsel for. attorney’s fees and expenses in Coreslab’s defense in the Underlying Lawsuits. Lexington is not a party in this lawsuit.

Insured’s Suit Against Scottsdale for Coverage as Additional Insured and Defense in the Underlying Suits

Coreslab filed a third-party petition in the Underlying Lawsuits against Scottsdale alleging that the Scottsdale policy provided coverage for Coreslab as an additional insured. Scottsdale asserted that the policy provided no coverage to Coreslab. In its third-party petition, Coreslab sought a declaratory judgment that Scottsdale had a duty to pay Coreslab’s defense costs in the Underlying Lawsuits. Coreslab asserted (1) a breach-of-contract claim against Scottsdale for failing to pay, (2) statutory bad-faith claims under Chapter 541 of the Insurance Code, and (3) a claim for violations of the Prompt Payment of Claims Act under Chapter 542 of the Insurance Code.

*886 Partial Summary Judgment in Favor of Insured on Duty to Defend

The main claims in the Underlying Lawsuits settled, and the trial court severed Coreslab’s claims into a separate lawsuit containing only the claims between Cores-lab and Scottsdale. The trial court granted partial summary judgment in favor of Cor-eslab, ruling that Scottsdale had a duty to defend Coreslab in the Underlying Lawsuits. Coreslab agrees that, after the trial court’s ruling, Scottsdale paid a total of at least $409,509.53 toward Coreslab’s defense costs in the Underlying Lawsuits.

Insured’s Claimed Defense Costs

In its lawsuit against Scottsdale, Cores-lab sought to recover attorney’s fees and expenses that Coreslab incurred for the defense of the Underlying Lawsuits. Cor-eslab’s defense counsel billed Coreslab for these fees and expenses. There is no evidence that Coreslab paid any of these fees or expenses. Coreslab also sought to recover eighteen-percent interest as damages under Insurance Code section 542.060, attorney’s fees for bringing its claims against Scottsdale, and prejudgment interest.

Scottsdale’s Motion for Summary Judgment

Scottsdale filed a traditional summary-judgment motion asserting the following grounds:

(1)As a matter of law, Coreslab is not entitled to recover any damages in connection with attorney’s fees or costs in the Underlying Lawsuits or Coreslab’s lawsuit against Scottsdale because the total amount paid by Lexington and Scottsdale exceeds the sum of Coreslab’s defense costs in the Underlying Lawsuits and Cor-eslab’s attorney’s fees and costs in this suit against Scottsdale.
(2) Coreslab is not entitled to recover eighteen-percent interest as damages under Insurance Code section 542.060 for the following reasons: (a) Scottsdale always paid its share of the defense costs within sixty days of its receipt of each attorney’s fees invoice; and (b) because Coreslab never paid any attorney’s fees bill for the defense costs in the Underlying Lawsuits, Scottsdale owes no eighteen-percent interest as damages under Insurance Code section 542.060.
(3) Coreslab is not entitled to recover interest under Finance Code section 302.002 because (a) Coreslab is not entitled to recover against Scottsdale and (b) this statute does not apply to an award of attorney’s fees against an insurer. 1

Insured’s Response and Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment

Coreslab filed a response in opposition to Scottsdale’s summary-judgment motion. Coreslab also asserted a cross-motion for traditional summary judgment in which Coreslab sought a partial summary judgment granting it a judgment as a matter of law on its breach-of-contract and Insurance Code section 542.060 claims.

Trial Court’s Ruling

The trial court signed an order granting Scottsdale’s summary-judgment motion *887 and ruling that Coreslab take nothing on its claims. 2

II. Issues Presented

In its appellate brief, Coreslab presents the following two issues:

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Coreslab Structures (Texas), Inc. v. Scottsdale Insurance Company, 496 S.W.3d 884, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 8077, 2016 WL 4060256 (Tex. Ct. App. 2016).

496 S.W.3d 884 (Coreslab Structures (Texas), Inc. v. Scottsdale Insurance Company) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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