CU Lloyd's of Texas v. Feldman
| Citation | 977 S.W.2d 568 |
| Decision Date | 27 August 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 96-1041,96-1041 |
| Parties | CU LLOYD'S OF TEXAS and Commercial Union Insurance Company, Petitioners, v. Stewart A. FELDMAN and wife, Marla B. Matz, Respondents. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Texas |
Larry D. Thompson, Richard Nelson Moore, Richard L. Ellison, Brad Beers, Diane M. Guariglia, Houston, for Petitioners.
Larry S. Kaplan, Dallas, John Stephen Morgan, Kent M. Adams, Ross Holiday Jones, Beaumont, Michael Ian Kahn, Callas, for Respondents.
In this insurance case, we consider whether a court of appeals may properly render judgment on a party's liability for breach of contract without evidence of damages and when no declaratory judgment has been sought. We conclude that it cannot, and reverse that portion of the court of appeals' judgment rendering judgment in favor of Feldman. 1
Stewart Feldman sued CU Lloyd's of Texas, seeking damages for Lloyd's alleged breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing and breach of contract after Lloyd's refused to defend Feldman in a lawsuit. The trial court severed Feldman's breach of contract claims from his bad faith claims. Lloyd's moved for final summary judgment on the breach of contract claims, claiming that no duty to defend existed because Feldman was not an insured under the policy. In response, Feldman moved for partial summary judgment, but only on the issues of the existence and breach of the duty to defend. The trial court granted the summary judgment motion filed by Lloyd's, and denied Feldman's motion for summary judgment. Feldman appealed both rulings to the court of appeals. See generally Jones v. Strauss, 745 S.W.2d 898, 900 (Tex.1988) ().
The court of appeals concluded that Feldman was an insured under the policy, and thus Lloyd's owed Feldman a duty to defend. Accordingly, the court reversed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Lloyd's, and after determining that Lloyd's had in fact breached its duty to defend, the court of appeals "render[ed] judgment in favor of Feldman." We affirm the court of appeals' reversal of summary judgment for Lloyd's; however, we conclude that the court of appeals erred in rendering judgment for Feldman on the issue of liability alone.
Feldman's motion sought a partial summary judgment only on the issue of the liability of Lloyd's for breach of contract. The motion did not address, nor did the trial court consider, Feldman's alleged damages. Thus, the court of appeals' "rendition" of judgment for Feldman could only encompass the issue of the liability of Lloyd's. Lloyd's contends that the court of appeals' rendition of judgment on the sole issue of liability was error. Feldman concedes that the case must be remanded to the trial court for a trial on damages; however, he asserts that rendition of judgment on the issue of liability alone was proper.
When considering cross motions for summary judgment, a court of appeals may reverse and render the...
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