Won Chapter 542A Insurance Recovery for Manufacturing Client

Represented a manufacturer policyholder in a Texas Insurance Code Chapter 542A first-party property action arising from hurricane damage to a multi-facility production operation. The team navigated the statutory pre-suit notice framework and prosecuted breach of contract and bad faith claims through fact and expert discovery. The case proceeded to a jury verdict securing substantial coverage and bad faith recovery.

Pre-Suit Notice Framework

Chapter 542A imposes a structured pre-suit notice and cure regime as a precondition to suit on weather-related property claims. The team executed each step of the framework with strategic intent.

• Pre-suit notice: quantified the loss across each affected facility and itemized the claim categories the insurer had failed to adjust properly.
• Cure period: engaged with the insurer's inspection and re-evaluation process to preserve the client's claims without accepting an inadequate cure offer.
• Suit filing: filed on expiration of the 60-day window with the statutory framework fully exhausted and the substantive claims preserved.

Trial

The trial team built parallel cases on breach of contract and bad faith handling. The contract case turned on policy interpretation, scope-of-loss documentation, and the insurer's adjustment file. The bad faith case turned on the insurer's investigation conduct, communications with the policyholder, and adherence to applicable Texas claim-handling standards including the Prompt Payment of Claims Act.

Verdict and Recovery

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the manufacturer on both contract and bad faith claims, awarding substantial recovery on the underlying coverage dispute and on the insurer's claim-handling conduct. The verdict resolved the multi-facility loss in a single proceeding and confirmed the strategic value of disciplined pre-suit notice work under Chapter 542A's procedural framework.