Court Opinion

ID: 9669228
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 02:44:48.574122+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:54.036024
License: Public Domain

Justice ABBOTT,
joined by Justice GONZALEZ, Justice HECHT and Justice OWEN,
dissenting.
I dissent. The Court’s holding today fails to delineate a clear standard to govern when a trial court should segregate a breach of contract claim from a bad faith claim against an insurance company. This will result in increased mandamus filings in the appellate courts and some confusion in the trial courts.
I believe that the better rule would be to require a trial court to segregate breach of contract claims and bad faith claims in every case in which a party requests that the claims not be tried together. The trial court would have discretion whether to sever the claims or order separate trials on the claims. The trial court could also decide whether to abate discovery on the bad faith claim pending resolution of the contract claim. The trial on the bad faith claim could proceed after the jury verdict on the breach of contract claim; thus, a trial court would not have to wait for a party to exhaust its appellate remedies before commencing the trial on the bad faith claim.
I recognize that, in some eases, trying the contract and bad faith claims together will not result in undue prejudice. However, in the vast majority of first party insurance cases, either a severance or a separate trial is required. For instance, in all cases in which the insurer has made a settlement offer on the contract claim, the trial court must segregate the claims. See supra, 927 S.W.2d at 629; Mid-Century Ins. Co. v. Lerner, 901 S.W.2d 749, 752-53 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1995, orig. proceeding); Northwestern Nat’l Lloyds Ins. Co. v. Caldwell, 862 S.W.2d 44, 46-47 (Tex.App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1993, orig. proceeding); F.A. Richard & Assocs. v. Millard, 856 S.W.2d 765, 767 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1993, orig. proceeding); United States Fire Ins. Co. v. Millard, 847 S.W.2d 668, 673 (Tex.App.-Houston [1st Dist.] 1993, orig. proceeding); State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Wilbom, 835 S.W.2d 260, 262 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 1992, orig. proceeding).
Moreover, even in cases in which a settlement offer was not made, undue prejudice to the parties may occur if both claims are tried together. For example, the defendant may have separate defenses to the contract claim and the bad faith claim which are somewhat inconsistent. In the absence of a severance or separate trial, the defendant may be unduly prejudiced by making conflicting presentations to the jury.
*634To avoid the uncertainty that courts and litigants will suffer as a result of our case-by-case review, the better course of action is to require a severance or a separate trial in all cases in which a party requests that the claims be segregated. Accordingly, I would conditionally grant the requested mandamus relief to relators.