TEXAS COURT OF APPEALS REMANDS REINSURANCE-RELATED DISPUTE WITHOUT OPINION ON THE MERITS DUE TO PERCEIVED ABUSE OF INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL PROCESS
Clark & Co. was a managing general agent for high risk automobile policies, and serviced the policies pursuant to a General Agency Agreement. A St. Paul affiliate reinsured the risks. Disputes arose with respect to the policies and the GA Agreement, and Clark’s withdrawal of almost a million dollars from a premium trust account. There were a series of amendments to claims and counterclaims, and changes to which affiliates of the parties were named in the lawsuit. In the latest round of these disputes, the trial court struck Clark’s amended claims and severed St. Paul’s counterclaims, for prosecution in a separate case. The Court of Appeal reversed the severance order and remanded with instructions to consolidate the claims once again. The Court found that the severance was in violation of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and was ordered by the trial court for the improper purpose of obtaining an advisory opinion from the Court of Appeals, essentially doing an end run around the Texas requirements for an interlocutory appeal. Clark & Co. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., No. 05-07-1097 (Tex. Ct. App. Oct. 21, 2008).
This post written by Rollie Goss.
