by John Carter, Karen Jewell and Catherine Smith
Hired to appeal an order that certified a nationwide class of insurance agents pursuing claims against American National Insurance Company ("ANICO"), V&E successfully persuaded the Beaumont Court of Appeals in September 2002 to reverse the order.
Former and current agents of the company alleged they were damaged by covenants not to compete in their agent agreements and that misrepresentations were made regarding their obligation to repay monies advanced to them under their agent advance agreements. They further alleged that their claims were appropriate for class treatment. The Montgomery County trial court agreed. On appeal, however, V&E demonstrated that despite virtually identical language in the contracts at issue, certification of a class was inappropriate because individual issues of fact unique to each agent would predominate over any common issues in the case. The Beaumont Court of Appeals agreed and reversed the class certification order. See American National Insurance Co. v. Cannon, 86 S.W.3d 801 (Tex. App.-Beaumont 2002, no pet.).
If the class certification order had been upheld and plaintiffs prevailed on their claims, ANICO would have been enjoined from enforcing two key provisions in its agent agreements and the plaintiffs could possibly have claimed substantial damages.
John Carter, Karen Jewell, and Catherine Smith in the Houston office represented ANICO.