TX Jury Awards Southwestern $7M From Insurer

Jury rules insurer ‘acted unfairly’ and ‘knowingly’ against seminary it was paid to protect.

The already twisting legal case involving Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s defense of claims it failed to protect a female student from sexual abuse took another turn May 7 in a Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom.  A Tarrant County District Court jury found the seminary’s insurance company failed to meet its obligations under the seminary’s policy, repeatedly threatened to withhold coverage the seminary purchased with 11 years of combined premiums totaling $2.4 million, and undermined the seminary’s right to independent counsel under Texas law. The jury found in the seminary’s favor on every question and awarded a $7.1 million verdict against Hanover Casualty Co. and Hanover Insurance Co. The verdict is likely to be appealed.

Southwestern Seminary campus / Photo via Baptist News Global

“For more than a decade, Southwestern Seminary paid the Hanover Insurance Co. millions of dollars in premiums for the very protection it would later need,” said Michael D. Anderson, partner at Kelly Hart and legal counsel for the seminary. “When that moment came, Hanover chose to fight against the institution it had been paid to defend.

“After more than three years of litigation, a Tarrant County jury has now delivered a decisive verdict for Southwestern Seminary, finding that Hanover acted unfairly toward the seminary and that it did so knowingly. We are grateful to the jurors and now pray for a swift conclusion, one that makes the seminary whole and allows it to continue the work to which God has called it.”

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The dispute arose because there were two named defendants in the 2019 civil action brought by Jane Roe — the seminary and its former president, Paige Patterson. The seminary sought separate legal representation from Patterson. According to the seminary’s complaint against Hanover, the insurance company failed to perform due diligence or file essential policy forms required under Texas law. Those breaches of coverage duties complicated the seminary’s defense, exposed it to significant financial hardship, and created internal hurdles for the seminary’s ability to take control of its own defense.

A pivotal part of this case involves actions Patterson took as he was being fired and actions others took on his behalf. After years of litigation — including a question put to the Texas Supreme Court — a federal judge dismissed Southwestern Seminary from the defamation lawsuit last December, while leaving the door open for a jury trial against Patterson in summer 2026.

The Roe lawsuit has become one of the most protracted legal battles in recent Southern Baptist history, keeping the details of Patterson’s controversial tenure at Southwestern in the headlines seven years after his firing.

This article was originally published by Baptist News Global. It is reprinted with permission.

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