Dallas Austin

Is a Texas city liable for breach of a verbal contract? The Corpus Christi Court of Appeals in City of Pharr v. Garcia recently answered the question, no. How did this happen and what is the significance to construction contractors in Texas? In Garcia, Pajaro Promotions sued the City of Pharr alleging that the City failed to pay expenses and a 20% promotor’s fee associated with a Toby Keith concert at the City’s convention center. The City argued that Pajaro’s claims were barred due to sovereign immunity. When the trial court denied the City’s plea to the jurisdiction, the City filed a

When is a policy limits demand insufficient to invoke the Stowers doctrine? The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Golden Bear Insurance Co. v. 34th S&S, LLC d/b/a Concrete Cowboy et al. recently held that plaintiffs’ settlement demand did not meet the requirements of the Stowers  doctrine and, therefore, did not expose the insurer to extracontractual damages. Under the nearly 100-year old Stowers doctrine, an insurer may be liable for damages in excess of its policy limits (extracontractual damages) for negligently failing to settle a third-party claim that resul

What is “surface water” and how can diverting it create liability under Texas law?  In Good River Farms, L.P. v. TXI Materials, L.P., the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, interpreting Texas law, recently answered these questions. In October 2017, Good River Farms, L.P. (Good River) filed suit against TXI Operations, L.P. and Martin Marietta Materials, Incorporated (Martin Marietta) asserting claims for nuisance, negligence, and violations of the Texas Water Code. The dispute between Good River and Martin Marietta stemmed from a “120-year flood” that occurred near

The Texas Supreme Court, in Texas Department of Insurance v. Stonewater Roofing, Ltd. Co., affirmed the licensing requirements for public adjusters and the prohibition of public adjusters to also act as repair contractors. How did the Court reach this opinion and what impact will it have on the construction industry? In Stonewater, a commercial customer of Stonewater Roofing Ltd. Co. (Stonewater) sued Stonewater for violating the Public Insurance Adjusters Act (“Act”), Texas Insurance Code Chapter 4102. Stonewater then filed a declaratory judgment action against the Texas Department of Ins

On January 1, 2024, an important change in the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) took effect. This change created ownership reporting requirements for private companies. Specifically, all entities, except sole proprietorships, some general partnerships, wealth planning trusts, unincorporated entities, and foreign entities not registered to do business in the United States, have to report to the federal government who the beneficial owners of the entity are. A beneficial owner includes anyone who exercises substantial control over the entity or owns or controls twenty-five percent or more