EDWARD C. PRADO, Circuit Judge:
Plaintiff-Appellant Downhole Navigator, L.L.C. ("Downhole") appeals from the magistrate judge's grant of partial summary judgment for Defendant-Appellee Nautilus Insurance Company ("Nautilus").
Downhole services the oil drilling industry. Sedona, an oil well operator, hired Downhole around November 2008 to help redirect an oil well toward a better location within a desired reservoir. According to Sedona's complaint, Downhole developed the plan to conduct the deviation and participated directly in the deviation process, but around December 2008, Downhole negligently executed the deviation plan, causing damage to the well. On March 3, 2009, Sedona brought a negligence action against Downhole in Texas state court.
Downhole had a one-year general commercial liability policy with Nautilus, running from mid-June 2008 to mid-June 2009. Downhole submitted its notice of claim and indemnification to Nautilus on March 24, 2009. Nautilus responded on March 30, 2009, and tendered a qualified defense under a reservation of rights. Nautilus reserved its right to decline indemnity coverage if, after further investigation, the underlying suit fell under one of three policy exclusions: (1) the "expected or intended injury" exclusion, which excludes "`bodily injury' or `property damage' expected or intended from the standpoint of the insured"; (2) the "property damage" exclusion, which excludes certain "physical injury to tangible property"; (3) the "testing or consulting" exclusion, which excludes damages arising from "[a]n error, omission, defect, or deficiency in ... any test performed or ... [in] [a]n evaluation, a consultation or advice given, by or on behalf of any insured." Additionally, though not referenced in the letter, two other exclusions are relevant to this case: the "professional liability" exclusion, which excludes damages arising from "the rendering of or failure to render any professional services," including "the preparing, approving, or failing to prepare or approve... opinions, reports, surveys, ... or drawings and specifications," and "supervisory, inspection, architectural or engineering activities"; the "data processing" exclusion, which excludes damages arising from "the rendering of, or failure to render, electronic data processing ... services, advice or instruction...."
On April 27, 2009, in response to the reservation-of-rights letter, Downhole notified Nautilus that it was rejecting Nautilus's proffered defense, writing: "Your decision to act under a reservation of rights has created a material conflict with respect to the selection of counsel.... Downhole has been left with no choice but to select its own representation. Pursuant to Texas law, Downhole expects and demands that you cover all damages related to this claim, including attorneys' fees, up to the applicable limits of [the policy]." On May 11, 2009, Nautilus responded that it had "reserved [its] rights while investigating the matter," and insisted that "[u]ntil or unless a coverage issue develops, Downhole is not entitled to separate counsel."
On March 3, 2010, Downhole filed this action, seeking a declaratory judgment that Nautilus has a contractual duty under the policy to defend Downhole, cover the
The parties agree that Texas law governs this dispute. Because federal jurisdiction in this case is based on diversity, we follow Texas's substantive law. See Preston Exploration Co., L.P. v. GSF, L.L.C., 669 F.3d 518, 522 (5th Cir.2012) (citing Erie R.R. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78-79, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938)). We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, applying the same standards as the district court. Hernandez v. Yellow Transp., Inc., 670 F.3d 644, 650 (5th Cir.2012). Summary judgment is appropriate where the movant shows that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986); Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a)). In reviewing the record, all facts and inferences are construed in the light most favorable to the non-movant. Id. Nonetheless, "[i]f the record, taken as a whole, could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, then there is no genuine issue for trial." Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
Under Texas law, it is well-settled that the insurer owes a duty to defend its insured against any allegation that is potentially covered by the policy. See Nat'l Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Merchants Fast Motor Lines, Inc., 939 S.W.2d 139, 141 (Tex.1997). It is also well-settled that an insurer's "right to conduct the defense includes the authority to select the attorney who will defend the claim and to make other decisions that would normally be vested in the insured as the named party in the case." N. Cnty. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Davalos, 140 S.W.3d 685, 688 (Tex.2004). "Under certain circumstances, however, an insurer may not insist upon its contractual right to control the defense." Id. In Davalos, the Texas Supreme Court noted one such circumstance:
Id. at 689 (citation omitted).
Applying the principle from Davalos to this case, we agree with Nautilus
According to Downhole, however, a more recent case from the Texas Supreme Court has changed the applicable standard. In Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee v. American Home Assurance Company, the Texas Supreme Court held that a liability insurer may use its staff attorneys to defend a claim against an insured without being deemed to have engaged in unauthorized practice of law, provided that the interests of the insured and the insurer are congruent. 261 S.W.3d 24, 39 (Tex.2008). In the course of its reasoning, the court examined when and how those interests diverge; the court observed that "the most common conflict between an insurer and an insured" is whether a claim falls within the policy, and then stated:
Id. at 40 (emphasis added). Here on appeal, Downhole seizes on the word "developed" to argue that Unauthorized Practice relaxed the Davalos standard. Now, according to Downhole, a conflict of interest arises if facts that could be developed in the underlying litigation are the same facts upon which coverage depends. Based on this new standard, Downhole warns that if Nautilus were permitted to select Downhole's attorney, that attorney could steer
Nonetheless, we decline to follow Downhole's strained reading of Unauthorized Practice. One inconsequential line of dicta — "[o]ther coverage issues may also depend on the facts developed in the litigation," id. — surely did not usher in a doctrinal change. Neither in Unauthorized Practice nor elsewhere has the Texas Supreme Court ever held that a conflict arises any time the attorney offered by the insurer could be tempted — in violation of his duty of loyalty to the insured — to develop facts in the underlying lawsuit that could be used to exclude coverage. The mere observation that coverage issues may turn on facts developed in the litigation does not necessarily entail that a conflict of interest will arise if the facts that could be developed in the underlying litigation are the same facts upon which coverage depends. Proceeding from the former observation to the latter conclusion requires an illogical leap.
Downhole also argues that by focusing on the "facts to be adjudicated," rather than on the "facts to be developed," a conflict will arise in only one circumstance: where the policy exclusion is for intentional conduct and the third party is alleging intentional wrongdoing. An attorney sent by the insurer to defend the insured in such a case would be conflicted, for a finding of intent would disqualify coverage. But in no other case, according to Downhole, will the facts to be adjudicated be equivalent to the facts upon which coverage depends. Downhole thus suggests: "[T]he Davalos rule becomes meaningless because it would never apply to [a] conflict created by any policy exclusion except an exclusion for intentional conduct, which may, in special cases, be the only situation in which an underlying fact-finder specifically answers questions that would also dispose of a coverage issue." Yet, Downhole's assumption is incorrect. The facts to be adjudicated may be the same facts upon which coverage depends in other situations, such as where the insurer reserves the right to deny coverage based upon a breach of contract exclusion and the underlying litigation raises a claim for breach of contract, or where the insurer reserves the right to deny coverage for damages taking place outside the contract period and the underlying action involves
Because the facts to be adjudicated in the Sedona lawsuit are not the same facts upon which coverage depends, the potential conflict in this case does not disqualify the attorney offered by Nautilus to represent Downhole. We agree with the magistrate judge's ruling and hold that Downhole is not entitled to reimbursement from Nautilus for the cost of hiring independent counsel.
AFFIRMED.