An unusual honor for the Texas Supreme Court

An item posted on the Texas Supreme Court Web site April 3 caught my eye today. It was a press release announcing that legal publisher Lexis Nexis’ Insurance Law Center (ILC) has named the Texas Supreme Court its 2008 “Insurance Jurist of the Year.” Lexis Nexis wrote in its press release, “The Court’s decisions are noteworthy, not only for tackling important issues and providing useful answers, but doing so in a constructive, clear, reflective, moderate manner.” The ILC board based its recognition of this state’s high court on 16 decisions that, according to the board’s analysis, split 8 for insurers and 8 for policyholders. As noted in the press release, the board counted the Supreme Court’s April 3 decision in Entergy Gulf States Inc. v. Summers as a win for the insured. In its 6-3 decision in Entergy -- a case in which the Supreme Court  had granted rehearing -- the court ruled for a second time that a premises owner who purchased workers’ compensation insurance coverage for the employees of subcontractors working on its job site was immune from an injured worker’s suit for damages. The Supreme Court reversed a 9th Court of Appeals decision that favored the injured worker and rendered judgment in favor of Entergy.
-- Mary Alice Robbins