ACCEPTED 14-14-00254-CV FOURTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS HOUSTON, TEXAS 1/15/2015 10:10:13 AM CHRISTOPHER PRINE CLERK GIEGER, LABORDE & LAPEROUSE, L.L.C. FORTY-EIGHTH FLOOR
ERNEST P. GIEGER, JR.'·2 ONE SHELL SQUARE MEGAN A. CAMBRE KENNETH H. LABORDE',2 ERIC S. CHARLESTON" LAMBERT M. LAPEROUSE',2 701 POYDRAS STREET CAITLIN J. HILL· ROBERT I. SIEGEL,,2 NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 70139-4800 FILED IN JONATHAN S. ORO BRADLEY J. SCHWAB 14th COURT OF APPEALS ANDREW A. BRAUN',2 LEO R. McALOON 111',2 TELEPHONE (504) 561-0400 SANDY G. HOY" JOHN E. W. BAAY 11'·2,. FACSIMILE (504) 561-1011 HOUSTON, TEXAS IAN R. GOLDBERG 7 ANDREW M. ADAMS',2 MARGARET V. GLASS2 DANIEL G. RAUH' 1/15/2015 10:10:13 AM DAVID M. SCHROETER RACHEL G. WEBRE' DALLAS V. COOK" BRENDAN P. DOHERTy',2 CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE CHRISTOPHER R. TESKE',2 WILLIAM A. BAROUSSE',2 HOUSTON OFFICE: Clerk OF COUNSEL JANETH.ASCHAFFENBURG MICHAEL E. HILL',2 J. MICHAEL DIGIGLIA5 SUITE 750 CHARLOTTE A. FIELDS" 1177 WEST LOOP SOUTH GINA S. MONTGOMERY HOUSTON, TEXAS 77027-9064 ALISTAIR M. WARD MICHAEL D. CANGELOSI TARA E. CLEMENT2 TELEPHONE (832) 255-6000 1 LAW CORPORATION
ELIZABETH A. CHICKERING FACSIMILE (832) 255-6001 2 ALSO ADMITTED IN TEXAS
LAUREN C. CANCIENNE 2 3 ALSO ADMITTED IN MISSISSIPPI
ERIC C. WALTON 4 ONLY ADMITTED IN TEXAS
SIMONE MANUEL ALMON SALsa ADMITTED IN COLORADO
JAMESON M. TAYLOR January 15, 2015 6 ALSO ADMITTED IN NEW YORK AND WASHINGTON, D.C. EMILY E. EAGAN2 7 ONLY ADMITTED IN TEXAS MATTHEW F. MORGAN AND MONTANA VICTORIA E. EMMERLING
Hon. Christopher A. Prine Clerk, Fourteenth Court of Appeals 301 Fannin, Suite 245 Houston, Texas 77002
Re: No. 14-14-00254-CV: Liberty Surplus Ins. Co. et al., v. Exxon MobJ1 Corp.
Dear Mr. Prine:
Appellant Commerce & Industry Insurance Company ("C&I") submits this
letter brief under Texas Rule of Appellate Procedure 38.7 to advise the Court of new
authority relevant to the above-captioned insurance coverage appeal. As detailed
further below, the recent opinion In re Wyatt Field Servo Co., 14-14-00275-CV, 2014
WL 7366037 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.l Dec. 23, 2014) reasons that the
liability of Exxon Mobil Corporation ("ExxonMobil") arose from its own operations.
This supports C&I's argument on appeal that ExxonMobil failed to meet its burden
of proving its liability arose out of the operations of Wyatt Field Service Company
("Wyatt") in order to trigger indemnity coverage under C&I's insurance policy. C&I
therefore respectfully requests that the Court consider this post-submission letter GIEGER, LABORDE & LAPEROUSE, L.L.C.
Mr. Christopher A. Prine, Clerk January 15,2015 brief and the Wyatt opinion (attached as Exhibit A hereto) as additional authority
in support of C&I's position on appeal.
This appeal arises from the denial of additional insured coverage to
ExxonMobil under primary and excess liability insurance policies issued to Wyatt.
After an explosion at ExxonMobil's Baytown refinery, ExxonMobil settled the
lawsuit brought by two injured workers under Cause No. 2011-44838 entitled,
McBride, et al. v. Exxon MobJ1 Corp., et ai., in the 125th Judicial Circuit Court of
Harris County (the "underlying lawsuit"). The underlying lawsuit then proceeded
to trial against Wyatt. The jury in the underlying lawsuit returned a verdict
finding