Taylor v. Allstate Insurance Co.

356 S.W.3d 92, 2011 WL 1233331
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 19, 2011
Docket01-09-00457-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 356 S.W.3d 92 (Taylor v. Allstate Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Allstate Insurance Co., 356 S.W.3d 92, 2011 WL 1233331 (Tex. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

OPINION

ELSA ALCALA, Justice.

Appellants Robert B. Taylor and R.B.T. Investments, Inc. f/k/a Gulf Oxygen Company, Inc. (collectively, “Taylor”) appeal from a summary judgment rendered in favor of appellees Allstate Insurance Company and Allstate County Mutual Insurance Company (collectively, “Allstate”) on the grounds that Taylor’s sole cause of action against Allstate is a Stowers 1 claim, and no Stowers claim can be made under *95 the facts of this case. In two issues, Taylor asserts that the trial court erred by granting Allstate’s “no cause of action” motion for summary judgment and by denying Taylor’s motion for leave to replead his claims against Allstate.

We conclude that the trial court properly rendered summary judgment with respect to Taylor’s claims against Allstate for negligence, vicarious liability, and tor-tious interference with Taylor’s fiduciary and contractual relationship with his attorney but that the trial court erred in determining that no cause of action exists with respect to Taylor’s breach of contract and statutory claims. We also conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying Taylor’s motion for leave to replead because Taylor had already been provided an opportunity to replead, and Taylor had in fact amended his pleadings at the time summary judgment was granted. We, therefore, affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.

Background

According to his pleadings, Taylor was involved in an automobile accident in 2005 in which the passenger of the other vehicle was catastrophically injured. The family of the injured passenger brought suit against Taylor. Allstate retained John Causey, an independent contractor, as counsel for Taylor in the automobile accident suit. Taylor claims he had defenses to that suit, including his contention that he was entirely in his lane of traffic when the collision occurred, he was still or moving slowly at the time, and the passenger’s failure to wear a seatbelt caused the injuries. At mediation, Taylor settled the automobile accident suit for an amount that exceeded his insurance coverage. Allstate tendered policy limits. Taylor filed this action against his former legal counsel and various insurance providers, ultimately including Allstate, to recover costs paid by Taylor to settle litigation against him arising out of the automobile accident.

Taylor’s initial claim against Allstate was for negligence with respect to Allstate’s handling Taylor’s defense in the automobile accident case. Allstate filed special exceptions and moved for traditional summary judgment on the grounds that a Stowers claim is the only common law claim cognizable under Texas law for an insurer’s alleged mishandling of a third party claim against the insured, and the facts pled by Taylor would not support a Stowers claim. Taylor filed a second amended petition to add claims against Allstate for breach of contract, tortious interference with Taylor’s contractual and fiduciary relationship with Causey, vicarious liability for Causey’s conduct in representing Taylor, and violations of provisions of the Insurance Code and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (“DTPA”). In response to Taylor’s new claims, Allstate filed a supplement to its motion for summary judgment. Citing additional authority, the supplement referenced Taylor’s new claims and re-urged its argument that a Stowers claim was Taylor’s exclusive cause of action against Allstate.

Taylor filed a response to Allstate’s motion for summary judgment, in which he disputed that a Stowers claim was his exclusive remedy under Texas law, distinguishing some of the cases relied on by Allstate and pointing out that the Texas Supreme Court had remanded certain insured-insurer claims in one of the cases relied on by Allstate. Taylor then filed a supplement to his second amended petition to add claims against Alstate for additional violations of the DTPA and Insurance Code and asserting that Allstate breached the standard of care implicit in its contractual duty to defend.

*96 The trial court rendered summary judgment in Allstate’s favor. Taylor filed a motion to reconsider the summary judgment and for leave to replead, which the trial court denied. Subsequently, the trial court entered an order severing Taylor’s claims against Allstate into a separate cause. After severance, Taylor filed a motion for new trial, which was not granted, and this appeal ensued. 2

Standard of Review

We review the trial court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Mann Frankfort Stein & Lipp Advisors, Inc. v. Fielding, 289 S.W.3d 844, 848 (Tex.2009); Valence Operating Co. v. Dorsett, 164 S.W.3d 656, 661 (Tex.2005). We review the evidence presented in the motion and response in the light most favorable to the party against whom the summary judgment was rendered, crediting evidence favorable to that party if reasonable jurors could and disregarding contrary evidence unless reasonable jurors could not. Fielding, 289 S.W.3d at 848; see City of Keller v. Wilson, 168 S.W.3d 802, 827 (Tex.2005). Issues not expressly presented to the trial court by written motion, answer, or other response shall not be considered on appeal as grounds for reversal. Tex.R. Civ. P. 166a(c).

A defendant-movant may establish its right to summary judgment by demonstrating that the law does not recognize the cause of action pled. E.g., Peeler v. Hughes & Luce, 909 S.W.2d 494, 497-98 (Tex.1995); Higbie Roth Constr. Co. v. Houston Shell & Concrete, 1 S.W.3d 808, 811 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1999, pet. denied). In such an instance, the movant meets its summary judgment burden not by proving or disproving facts, but by showing that the plaintiff has not pled a viable cause of action. Higbie Roth Constr. Co., 1 S.W.3d at 811. To determine whether a cause of action exists under the circumstances pled, we construe the pleading broadly and assume the facts pled are true. Id. at 811-12. The summary judgment at issue in this appeal is largely a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Allstate filed only one piece of evidence in support of its motion for summary judgment — an affidavit tending to disprove certain facts relevant to a Stow-ers claim.

Taylor’s Tort Claims Against Allstate

Taylor alleges common law causes of action against Allstate for negligence and tortious interference with his contractual and fiduciary relationship with Causey, Taylor’s legal counsel in the automobile accident suit; Taylor also alleges that Allstate is vicariously liable for conduct by Causey in the defense of that suit.

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Bluebook (online)
356 S.W.3d 92, 2011 WL 1233331, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-allstate-insurance-co-texapp-2011.