In 1996, Ernest Martin, Partner and Chair of the Insurance Recovery Section at Haynes and Boone, LLP, first conceptualized a new section of the State Bar of Texas devoted to Texas insurance law. At the time, insurance law issues were part and parcel of the Consumer Law Section. The impetus for the new section was a desire to promote collegiality and balance between policyholder lawyers and insurance carrier lawyers. After all, the competing sides dealt with the same legal issues but of course could have (and today sometimes still have) polemic perceptions of how those issues should be resolved. Those differing viewpoints should not get in the way of good communication and collegiality among the lawyers.
Ernest and Jim Cornell gathered the original proposed council: Officers Ernest Martin (Chairman), Michael Quinn (Chair-Elect), Michael Huddleston (Secretary), Reagan Brown (Treasurer), and Chris Martin (Publications Chairman); councilmembers James Plummer, Mark Lawless, Jim Cornell, Veronica Bates, Ellen Pryor, Brent Cooper, and Rusty McMains; and judicial liaisons Justice Greg Abbott and Justice Susan Larson.
On June 11, 1998, Ernest made a motion to approve the creation of the section to the State Bar Board of Directors. Here is the cool graphic that Ernest presented in support of the new section:
The opposition argued that the section should be limited to insurance coverage issues so as not to overlap with the interests of the Consumer Law Section. One can only imagine the impassioned arguments of both sides. The motion passed on a show of hands 25-15, and the section was born without limitations to coverage issues.
Ernest Martin’s riveting description of the creation of the section is found in the Journal of Texas Insurance Law, Summer 2024 issue (which you can access as a member). Here are his words for the future:
“My biggest hope is that the Section never loses its collegiality or its balance of interests between policyholders and insurers. I am confident that the spirit of collegiality and balance will live on!”
To be sure, in the past years, there have been ups and downs. But in response to Ernest, we say, “Huzzah, the spirit lives on!”
Please click here to read more about the history of the section in the words of former chairs.