In Texas, and as a general rule, only the four corners of the policy and the four corners of the petition against the insured are relevant in deciding whether the duty to defend applies. Richards v. State Farm Lloyds, ___S.W.3d ___, 2020 WL 1313782 at *1 (Tex. 2020). Texas courts and practitioners refer to this general rule as the “eight-corners” rule. After years of implicitly acknowledging an exception to the eight-corners rule may exist, in Loya Insurance Company v. Avalos, ___ S.W.3d ___, 2020 WL 2089752 (Slip.Op. Tex. May 1, 2020), the Texas Supreme Court affirmatively adopted a narrow exception to the rule: “courts may consider extrinsic evidence regarding whether the insured and a third party suing the insured colluded…
