In Monroe Guaranty Insurance Company v. BITCO General Insurance Corporation, No. 21-0232, 2022 Tex. LEXIS 148 (Tex. Feb. 11, 2022), the Supreme Court of Texas articulated an exception to the eight-corners rule governing whether an insurer owes a duty to defend.  Instead of looking solely to the allegations in the pleadings and the terms of the insurance policy, Texas courts may now look beyond the eight corners of those documents to extrinsic evidence under certain circumstances.  On the same day it published Monroe, the Court issued its opinion in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Tex. Pol. Subdivisions Property/Casualty Joint Self Ins. Fund, No. 20-0033, 2022 Tex. LEXIS 149 (Tex. Feb. 11, 2022), in which it further discussed its newly articulated extrinsic evidence exception.  The following provides an overview of these opinions and analysis of some effects they may have on coverage litigation moving forward.

I. The Monroe Decision

In the underlying lawsuit, the plaintiff alleged the insured negligently drilled an irrigation well, causing damage to the plaintiff's land.  The complaint, however, did not provide any detail regarding when any allegedly negligent acts, or the alleged resulting damage, occurred.  The insured had commercial general liability ("CGL") coverage from two insurers: BITCO General Insurance Corporation ("BITCO") issued two consecutive one-year CGL policies covering October 2013 to October 2015, while Monroe Guaranty Insurance Company ("Monroe") issued one CGL policy covering October 2015 to 2016.