Lawyers who handle insurance claims have to know the pleading requirements for alleging fraud when a lawsuit ends of in Federal Court. Otherwise, the fraud allegations can be thrown out of Court. This is illustrated in a February 2020 opinion from the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The opinion is styled, Nancy Roberson v. Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Company.
This is a claim for roof damage alleged to have resulted from storms in Houston. Roberson had filed two previous lawsuits which she had voluntarily dismissed. In this third lawsuit, Allstate has moved for summary judgment and for a judgment on the pleadings. This Court granted the motion for summary judgment in favor of Allstate.
Roberson’s common law fraud claim must satisfy Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b). This Rule requires a plaintiff to state the circumstances of an alleged fraud with particularity. The elements of Texas common law fraud are (1) that a material representation was made; (2) the representation was false; (3) when the representation was made, the speaker knew it was false or made it recklessly without any knowledge of the truth and as a positive assertion; (4) the speaker made the representation with the intent that the other party should act upon it; (5) the party acted in reliance on the representation; and (6) the party thereby suffered injury. Roberson must state the who, what, when, where, and how of the alleged fraud by pleading the time, place, and contents of the false representation, as well as the identity of the person making the misrepresentations and what that person obtained thereby.