Mid-Continent Casualty Co. v. Eland Energy Inc., e

EDITH H. JONES, Circuit Judge:

The principal issue raised in this appeal is whether an insurer breaches a duty to its insured in Texas by surreptitiously attempting to settle a covered third-party claim and truncating its duty to defend, despite paying the full limits of its coverage. According to appellant Sundown 1 , Mid-Continent Casualty Company (“Mid-Continent”) prematurely tendered the limits of Sundown’s primary and umbrella policies ($6 million total) while undercutting Sundown’s ability to defend a class action suit for environmental damage following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. After…