February 27th, 2019

US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Opinions
Mid-Continent Casualty Co. v. Petroleum Solutions, Inc.

Docket: 17-20652
Opinion Date: February 26, 2019
Judge: Catharina Haynes
Areas of Law: Contracts, Insurance Law

Mid-Continent filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that it did not owe coverage for a judgment assessed against its insured, PSI. The district court ruled that the Cooperation Clause in the policy applied to PSI's third-party claim in the underlying lawsuit and that only parts of the judgment were covered. The Fifth Circuit affirmed in part and held that, regardless of whether the Cooperation Clause applied to affirmative claims, the Cooperation-Clause jury instruction was not an abuse of discretion. The court reversed the district court's conclusion that the Professional Liability Endorsement did not cover the entire judgment and held that it did.

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