Supreme Court of Texas

An insurer may use a staff attorney to defend a claim against an insured if the insurer's interest and the insured's interest are congruent; interests are congruent when they are aligned in defeating the claim and there is no conflict of interest between the insurer and the insured; a staff attorney must disclose their affiliation to their client.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/28/2008
• Published 03/28/2008

Judges

• Justice HECHT delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Chief Justice JEFFERSON, Justice O'NEILL, Justice WAINWRIGHT, Justice BRISTER, Justice MEDINA, and Justice WILLETT joined.

Court

• Supreme Court of Texas

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Mark A. Ticer, Roger M. Tafel, Law Office of Mark Ticer, Dallas, David E. Keltner, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP, Fort Worth, TX, for Petitioner., J. Dennis Chambers, Atchley, Russell, Waldrop & Hlavinka, Texarkana, Stephen E. McConnico, Scott Douglass & McConnico, L.L.P., Patricia Anne Moore, Donald P. Wilcox, Fred C. Bosse, Austin, Thomas S. Leatherbury, Robert C. Walters, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., Calvin R. “Rod” Phelan II, Baker Botts LLP, Dallas, Jerry P. Campbell, Naman Howell Smith & Lee, Waco, John L. Hill Jr., Winstead Scchrist & Minick, P.C., Maurice Joseph Meynier IV, Law Office of M. Joseph Meynier, IV, Houston, Julia F. Pendery, Attorney At Law, Dallas, Peter M. Kelly, Law Office of Peter M. Kelly, P.C., Houston, Guy D. Choate, Webb, Stokes & Sparks, L.L.P., San Angelo, TX, for Amicus Curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• Thomas C. Wright, Lucy H. Forbes, Wright Brown & Close, LLP, Houston, Jim E. Cowles, R. Michael Northrup, Cowles & Thompson, P.C., Mark S. Whitburn, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., Suellen Ratliff, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, Dallas, TX, William T. Barker, Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP, Chicago, IL, William V. Dorsaneo III, Richard A. Smith, Lynn Tillotson & Pinker, L.L.P., Dallas, Thomas T. Rogers, Jackson & Walker, L.L.P., Austin, TX, for Respondent.