Liberty National Fire Insurance Company, Relator v. the Honorable Ted Akin, Respondent

Summary

The Texas Supreme Court denied Liberty National's petition for a writ of mandamus, holding that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to sever the breach of contract claim from the bad faith claim or to abate the bad faith claim. The Court emphasized that the claims were interwoven and that any prejudice could be mitigated by limiting jury instructions. Justice Abbott dissented, urging a mandatory rule requiring segregation of such claims.