In Louisiana, the statute of limitations for personal injury is two years from the date of the injury for most claims, under Civil Code Article 3493.1.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3493.1 – Delictual Actions That rule took effect on July 1, 2024. If you were hurt before that date, the old one-year deadline still governs your case. Medical malpractice and wrongful death claims run on their own, tighter timelines. Miss the deadline that applies to you, and a court will dismiss the case without ever reaching the merits.
When the Two-Year Clock Starts
For most injuries, the two years begin on the day the harm happens. Rear-ended on a Tuesday, the clock starts that Tuesday. Slip on a wet floor in a grocery store, same idea: the date of the fall is day one.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3493.1 – Delictual Actions The two-year period covers car crashes, falls, dog bites, assault, and other claims arising from someone else’s negligence or intentional conduct.
Some injuries don’t announce themselves. Under what Louisiana courts call the discovery rule, the clock may not start on the date of the incident if you had no reasonable way to know you’d been hurt. This comes up with toxic exposure, defective medical devices, and internal injuries whose symptoms emerge weeks or months later. The date you knew, or should have known, becomes the fight, and it’s a fact question the court decides based on what a reasonable person in your position would have realized.
If You Were Injured Before July 1, 2024
Act 423, which lengthened the deadline from one year to two, applies only going forward. Injuries that occurred before July 1, 2024, remain subject to the former one-year period under the now-repealed Article 3492.2Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana House Bill 109 – Prescription of Delictual Actions3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3492 – Delictual Actions If your injury date sits anywhere near that transition, confirm which rule applies before doing anything else. The gap between one year and two is the gap between a live claim and a lost one.
Wrongful Death and Survival Claims
When an injury results in death, different deadlines apply, and Act 423 did not extend them. A wrongful death claim must be filed within one year of the person’s death, or within two years from the date of the underlying injury, whichever period is longer.4FindLaw. Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2 The same deadline applies to survival actions, which let heirs recover damages the deceased could have claimed had they lived.5Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.1 – Survival Action
Where the death results from medical malpractice, the deadline tightens further: one year from the date of death, with no two-year alternative.4FindLaw. Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2
Medical Malpractice Runs on a Different Statute
Medical malpractice claims are governed by their own statute, not the general two-year rule. You have one year from the alleged act or omission, or one year from the date you discovered it, whichever comes later. Even with late discovery, there is an absolute three-year ceiling measured from the date of the malpractice itself.6FindLaw. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 9 Section 5628
Before filing suit, Louisiana requires you to submit the claim to a medical review panel. Filing the panel request suspends prescription. The suspension lasts until 90 days after you receive the panel’s written opinion by certified mail, which gives you a defined window to file in court once the panel process ends.7FindLaw. Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 40 Section 1231.8 – Medical Review Panel Filing the request also suspends prescription against other parties who share fault, including providers not named in the initial filing. A late panel request is one of the most common ways malpractice claims die before they reach a courtroom.
Minors and Interdicted Persons
The protection here is narrower than most people expect. Under Article 3493.1, prescription does not run against minors or interdicted persons only in claims for permanent disability brought under Louisiana’s products liability law.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3493.1 – Delictual Actions For other injuries a child suffers, the standard two-year deadline still runs, and a parent or legal guardian is responsible for filing on the child’s behalf. For an interdicted adult, the appointed curator carries that duty. Don’t assume the clock stops because the injured person is a minor or incapacitated. It stops only for that specific carve-out.
Can the Deadline Ever Be Paused?
Sometimes. Louisiana courts recognize a doctrine called contra non valentem that can suspend prescription when circumstances genuinely prevented you from filing. Courts have identified four situations where it applies: a legal barrier stopping courts from acting on the claim, a contractual or procedural condition blocking suit, active obstruction by the defendant, and a truly unknowable injury.8United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Contra Non Valentem Doctrine Analysis
The fourth category overlaps with the discovery rule but can reach further, covering situations where a defendant concealed information you needed to identify the claim. Courts apply the doctrine cautiously, and the burden of proving the impediment falls on the person asserting it. Don’t plan around it. Plan around the deadline.
Filing Suit Stops the Clock, If You File Correctly
A lawsuit filed in the right court interrupts prescription, meaning the clock resets. The requirement is that you file in a court with both proper jurisdiction and proper venue.9Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3462 – Interruption by Filing of Suit or by Service of Process
Filing in the wrong court is dangerous close to the deadline. If the court lacks jurisdiction or is the wrong venue, prescription is interrupted only for defendants actually served with process before the period runs out. Filing in a court with proper jurisdiction but improper venue gives you a seven-day window to serve the defendant, or the interruption fails.9Justia Law. Louisiana Civil Code Article 3462 – Interruption by Filing of Suit or by Service of Process A last-day filing in the wrong courthouse may not save the claim.
What Happens If You File Too Late
The defendant will raise a peremptory exception of prescription, a formal request that the court dismiss the case on timing alone.10Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 927 – Objections Raised by Peremptory Exception If the court agrees, the case is dismissed.11Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure Article 934 No judge has discretion to overlook the missed deadline, no matter how serious the injuries.
The claim can’t be refiled, because the right to sue has expired. Medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, and every other category of damages go with it. One day late produces the same outcome as a year late. Confirm which deadline applies to your situation, and calendar it the day you know you have a claim.