It is well-settled Texas law that plaintiffs are prevented from directly suing a defendant’s insurer unless and until a final judgment or settlement has resolved the litigation at issue. A related line of cases sets out when a third party (not the insured) can bind a non-participating insurer to an underlying judgment or settlement.

Texas law has long disfavored the now uncommon practice of liability insurers “soliciting a contribution to a settlement from its insured without first committing its own policy limits.” The Supreme Court of Texas was recently faced with such a situation.