Louisiana tort law lets you recover money from anyone whose fault caused you harm, as long as you file suit within two years, prove each element of a five-part negligence test, and are not yourself more than half to blame. The system is built on Civil Code Article 2315 and has been reshaped by two recent reforms: a longer filing deadline that took effect July 1, 2024, and a new fault cap that takes effect January 1, 2026.
The Rule That Creates the Right to Sue
Civil Code Article 2315 is the foundation of nearly every injury claim in Louisiana. It says that any act causing damage to another person creates an obligation on the person at fault to repair that damage.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 2315 – Liability for Acts Causing Damages The language is deliberately broad. You do not need a contract, a prior relationship, or any warning. Carelessness, recklessness, and intentional acts all fall within it.
Article 2315 also lets certain family members recover for loss of consortium when an injured relative can no longer provide companionship, support, or household services. Spouses and children come first, then parents, then siblings, then grandparents, with each lower tier eligible only when no one higher has a claim.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 2315 – Liability for Acts Causing Damages
What You Have to Prove
Louisiana courts do not ask only whether the defendant was careless. They apply a five-part “duty-risk” analysis, and failing any one element ends the case. The Louisiana Supreme Court has set the elements as follows: the defendant owed you a duty of care, the defendant breached that duty, the breach was a cause-in-fact of your injuries, the risk of the kind of harm you suffered fell within the scope of the duty breached, and you suffered actual damages.
Cause-in-fact is the “but for” question: would the injury have happened anyway if the defendant had acted properly? Duty asks whether a statute, regulation, or general standard of reasonable behavior required the defendant to act differently. Breach asks whether the defendant actually fell short.
The scope-of-duty element is where Louisiana’s analysis gets distinctive. It asks whether the particular harm that occurred was the kind of risk the duty was meant to prevent. A store has a duty to keep aisles clear so customers do not trip. If a customer trips, that is within the scope. If an unrelated ceiling tile falls on a customer standing in a clean aisle, the dirty-aisle duty does not cover the injury, even if the store breached it. The element filters out liability for freakish or unforeseeable consequences.
How Long You Have to File
For injuries on or after July 1, 2024, you have two years from the date of injury to file a tort lawsuit. The deadline, called “prescription” in Louisiana, is set by Civil Code Article 3493.1, which replaced the old one-year rule.2Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 3493.1 – Delictual Actions Miss it and your claim is extinguished no matter how strong the facts are. Injuries that happened before July 1, 2024 are still governed by the old one-year period.
A narrow court-made exception called contra non valentem can delay the start of prescription when you had no way to know you were harmed. The clock does not begin until you have actual or constructive knowledge of facts that would prompt a reasonable person to suspect a tort. You do not need the full legal theory or a doctor’s confirmation of causation; once you have enough to prompt an investigation, prescription runs. The doctrine most often applies to latent injuries from defective products or toxic exposure.
Medical malpractice follows a separate track. Before suing, you must first submit the complaint to a state medical review panel.3Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40-1231.8 – Medical Review Panel The panel process suspends prescription while the claim is pending, but the initial panel filing must still happen within the prescriptive period.
How Your Own Fault Affects Your Recovery
Effective January 1, 2026, Louisiana moves from pure comparative fault to a modified system with a hard cutoff. Under the amended Civil Code Article 2323, a plaintiff who is 51 percent or more at fault recovers nothing.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 2323 – Comparative Fault Below 51 percent, your damages are reduced by your share. A plaintiff with $100,000 in damages who is found 30 percent at fault recovers $70,000.
The court assigns a fault percentage to every person who contributed to the injury, including parties not named in the suit, insolvent people, and unidentified individuals.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 2323 – Comparative Fault In a jury trial, the judge must explain the 51 percent bar to the jurors.
One carve-out matters. The 51 percent bar does not apply when the defendant committed an intentional tort. If you were partly at fault for an injury that an intentional tortfeasor inflicted, your recovery against that defendant is not reduced at all.4Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 2323 – Comparative Fault Someone who, say, forgot to lock a door will not lose their claim against a person who deliberately assaulted them inside.
When More Than One Person Is at Fault
Louisiana generally treats the obligations of multiple tortfeasors as joint and divisible: each defendant pays only their own percentage of fault. If two drivers are each 50 percent responsible for a crash and the plaintiff bears none, each defendant owes half the damages. If one of them is uninsured or judgment-proof, the plaintiff absorbs the shortfall.5Justia. Louisiana Civil Code 2324 – Liability as Solidary or Joint and Divisible Obligation
The sole exception is conspiracy. When two or more people conspire to commit an intentional or willful act, they are liable in solido, meaning each one is on the hook for the full amount regardless of their individual share.5Justia. Louisiana Civil Code 2324 – Liability as Solidary or Joint and Divisible Obligation
There is one procedural benefit that cuts across all joint tortfeasor cases: interrupting prescription against one tortfeasor interrupts it against all of them.5Justia. Louisiana Civil Code 2324 – Liability as Solidary or Joint and Divisible Obligation Filing suit against one at-fault party inside the two-year window preserves your right to add others later.
What You Can Recover
Louisiana splits tort damages into special damages and general damages, with punitive awards available only in specific statutory situations.
Special Damages
Special damages are economic losses you can tie to a specific dollar figure: medical bills, pharmacy costs, physical therapy, lost wages, diminished earning capacity, and property repair or replacement. Courts expect documentation for every dollar — hospital invoices, pay stubs, repair estimates, and often expert testimony projecting future medical needs or career limits. Undocumented losses are not awarded.
General Damages
General damages cover harms that have no receipt: physical pain, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, scarring, and disability. No formula sets the amount. Judges and juries decide based on the severity, duration, and life impact of the injury, so two people with identical fractures can receive very different awards.
Punitive Damages
Louisiana does not allow punitive damages as a general rule. They are available only when a specific statute authorizes them. The most common statute is Civil Code Article 2315.4, which permits exemplary damages when the defendant was intoxicated while operating a motor vehicle and the intoxication was a cause-in-fact of the plaintiff’s injuries.6Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 2315.4 – Additional Damages; Intoxicated Defendant The standard is high: the plaintiff must prove wanton or reckless disregard for the rights and safety of others, not merely that the defendant had been drinking. Reckless driving without intoxication does not trigger the statute.
When the Defendant Is an Employer
Under Civil Code Article 2320, employers are liable for damage their employees cause while performing job-related duties.7Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Civil Code 2320 – Acts of Servants, Students or Apprentices A delivery driver who runs a red light on a route, a maintenance worker who leaves a hazard at a client’s property, or a security guard who uses excessive force on the job can all create liability for their employer.
The limit is scope of employment. If the employee was on a personal errand or acting entirely outside their job duties, the employer is generally not liable. Courts weigh whether the act occurred during work hours, whether it furthered the employer’s business, and whether the employer could have prevented it.
When the Defendant Is a Government Entity
Suing a state agency or political subdivision comes with extra hurdles and a hard damages cap. Total liability for personal injury against the state or a political subdivision is capped at $500,000 per person. The cap does not include property damage, medical expenses, lost earnings, or lost future earnings, which are recoverable on top of it.8Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 13-5106 – Limitations The same $500,000 cap applies to wrongful death claims against government entities.
Many government entities require written notice of a claim before you can sue. Deadlines vary by entity and can be as short as six months from the incident. The notice must identify you, describe the accident, and state the damages sought. After notice, the entity has a period to investigate and accept or deny. The administrative process does not extend prescription — your lawsuit still has to be filed within the applicable period.
Filing the Lawsuit
The Petition
A Louisiana tort lawsuit begins with a written petition filed in the district court of the appropriate parish. Code of Civil Procedure Article 891 requires the petition to include the full name and domicile of every plaintiff and defendant, a clear statement of the facts, and a prayer for the specific relief sought.9Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure 891 – Form of Petition It must also give a physical street address and email address for receiving case documents. Most district courts have standardized forms.
Fees and Service
Filing requires an advance deposit to the Clerk of Court. Fees vary by parish and case type, but a standard damages petition typically runs between $350 and $600. Cases with multiple defendants or extra motions cost more because each service generates a separate fee. After filing, you must request service of the citation on every named defendant within 90 days.10Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure 1201 – Citation; Waiver; Delay for Service Amending the petition to add a new defendant opens a fresh 90-day window for serving that person.
Judicial Interest
Once a court enters a judgment in your favor, the amount owed starts accruing judicial interest. Louisiana sets the rate annually using a formula tied to the Federal Reserve discount rate plus 3.25 percentage points.11Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 13-4202 – Rates of Judicial Interest For 2026, the rate is 7.50 percent per year. In most tort cases, interest runs from the date of judicial demand, meaning it accrues from the day you filed the suit rather than from the date of judgment. In a case that takes years to resolve, that interest can add substantially to the total.