Hargiss v. Princeton Excess

── Hargiss v. Princeton Excess ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Date: April 15, 2026 Category: Private Civil Diversity Case: 24-30810 Document: 100 Page: 1 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit ____________ FILED April 15, 2026 No. 24-30810 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk Brian Patrick Hargiss, Plaintiff—Appellant/Cross-Appellee, versus Princeton Excess & Surplus Lines Insurance Company, Defendant—Appellee/Cross-Appellant. ______________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana USDC No. 3:22-CV-886 ______________________________ Before Jones, Stewart, and Ramirez, Circuit Judges. Per Curiam: * This case concerns whether an insured party’s breach of a cooperation clause in the insurance policy affects an injured third party’s right, under Louisiana’s Direct Action Statute, to sue its insurer directly. Because we cannot make a reliable Erie guess, we respectfully CERTIFY a question to the Louisiana Supreme Court. _____________________ * This opinion is not designated for publication. See 5th Cir. R. 47.5.  Case: 24-30810 Document: 100 Page: 2 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 No. 24-30810 CERTIFICATE FROM THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT TO THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA PURSUANT TO RULE XII, LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT RULES. TO THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA AND THE HONORABLE JUSTICES THEREOF: I Louisiana’s Direct Action Statute provides an injured party the right of direct action against the injuring party’s insurer, but only in limited circumstances and within the terms and limits of the policy. See La. R.S. § 22:1269. In November 2018, Brian Patrick Hargiss (Hargiss) sued the Richland Parish Sheriff and several of his deputies for violating his constitutional and state rights by using excessive force against him during his arrest. The Sheriff was insured under a policy issued by Princeton Excess and Surplus Lines Insurance Company (Princeton) to the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Law Enforcement Program (LSLEP), “a statutorily authorized interlocal risk management agency . . . formed by sheriffs to pool their public liability risks.” The policy provided coverage “on a claims made basis” and required the insured’s “full cooperation in the investigation, settlement, or defense of any Claim.” The Sheriff notified the claims administrator for LSLEP about Hargiss’s lawsuit in December 2018. LSLEP’s claims administrator reported the Hargiss claim to Princeton in January 2019 in a monthly spreadsheet listing all claims and losses against multiple sheriffs throughout the policy’s coverage period. Other than the monthly spreadsheets, LSLEP provided Princeton no other information about Hargiss’s claim. It did not inform Princeton that it had engaged in settlement negotiations with Hargiss, including participating in 2  Case: 24-30810 Document: 100 Page: 3 Date Filed: 04/15/2026 No. 24-30810 two settlement conferences, between December 2020 and Septemb