Lindamood & Robinson, as well as partners Steven Lindamood and Lorie Robinson and of counsel Thomas Conner, are seeking up to $1 million from Dallas insurance broker George “Tad” Gardere III, Risk Consulting Partners and related companies.

The  lawyers alleged that, when a third party notified them of a claim during the period the policy was supposed to be in effect, an insurance company denied it because the policy the plaintiffs believed they had “was in fact not in place.”

As a result of Gardere’s negligence, the Lindamood & Robinson parties alleged, they are uninsured and must fund their defense without the “state-of-the-art defense expense advancement” their purported policy promised.

Gardere, a professional liability broker at Risk Consultant Partners, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Tim Danis, the St. Louis-based chairman and chief executive officer of Risk Consulting Partners, referred questions to Gardere.

As alleged in the petition filed on Monday in state district court in Houston, Lindamood & Robinson and the three lawyers hired Gardere in June 2018 to secure a professional liability policy for the year 2018 to 2019. They accepted an insurance proposal and made timely payments, the lawyers alleged.

Lindamood & Robinson and the lawyers seek damages including the amount of indemnity, if any, to be paid in the third-party lawsuit, and defense costs for that litigation, as well as attorney’s fees for the negligence suit.

Richard Grimes, a partner in Grimes & Fertitta of Houston, represents Lindamood & Robinson and the three lawyers. He said he had no details on the third-party suit.

Steven Lindamood did not immediately respond to a request for comment.