Louisiana · Updated
Injured in Louisiana: deadlines, rules and lawyers
Most of what to do after an injury is the same everywhere. The deadline to file, and a few other rules, are set by each state. Here are Louisiana’s, each with the law it comes from. This is general information, not advice about your case.
We don’t list firms in Louisiana yet. You can still check how to look up a lawyer’s license.
Know this first
Step 1: Your deadline to file in court
We don’t show Louisiana’s deadline here until we have checked it against the official text. Ask a lawyer, or each firm you call, which deadline applies to you.
When the clock starts, and whether an exception applies, can depend on the facts. A lawyer can tell you your exact date.
If a government body was involved
Step 2: Claims against the state or a local government
If a government vehicle, government property or a public employee was part of what happened, a shorter notice or claim step may come first. Ask a lawyer about it early.
The law, as written
Claims against the state and political subdivisionsRequest service within 90 days
In Louisiana, in any suit naming the state, a state agency or a political subdivision (or an officer or employee), service of citation must be requested within ninety days of commencement of the action, or of the amended or supplemental petition that first names that defendant, unless the defendant waives it in writing1.
More detail
Check the local rules and any standing order for your court.
How fault is counted
Step 3: If you were partly at fault
51% bar (from Jan. 1, 2026)
In Louisiana, from January 1, 2026, if you are found 51% or more at fault, you can’t recover. If you are less at fault, what you get is cut by your share.
Louisiana allocates fault among everyone who caused the injury, parties or not, and each tortfeasor generally pays only its own share.
The law, as written
Fault model51% bar (from Jan. 1, 2026)
In Louisiana, under Civil Code art. 2323 as amended by Act 15 of 2025, a claimant whose negligence is equal to or greater than 51% recovers nothing, and a claimant below that is reduced in proportion to his own fault23. The enrolled act states that it becomes effective on January 1, 2026, and the compiled article credits Acts 2025, No. 15, §1, eff.
More detail
Before Act 15, Louisiana applied pure comparative fault.
If a doctor, hospital or clinic was involved
Step 4: Medical malpractice has its own limits
Claims against a doctor, hospital or clinic often have their own deadline and extra steps before filing.
The law, as written
Prescription — medical malpractice1 year / 3-year outer limit
In Louisiana, a medical malpractice claim against a listed health care provider must be filed within one year from the alleged act, omission or neglect or within one year from discovery, and in all events within three years from the act, omission or neglect4.
If they were a minor
Step 5: If the injured person is a child
The clock can run differently for a child’s claim.
The law, as written
Minors and interdictsRuns against minors
In Louisiana, prescription runs against minors and interdicts unless legislation establishes an exception5.
Next
Step 6: What to do with this
- Write down the datesThe day you were hurt, the day treatment ended, and anything a government body or hospital sent you.
- Ask a lawyer about your factsThese rules have exceptions that depend on details. A lawyer licensed in Louisiana can tell you which ones apply.
- Ask each firmWhich deadline applies to me, does a notice need to go out, and by when?
How to check a lawyer’s license in Louisiana
Each state keeps a public list of lawyers. Before you hire anyone, look the lawyer up by name and read what the listing says about their license. If it isn’t clear, call the office that keeps the list.
Case types
Each case type’s page has Louisiana’s deadline and rules for it.
More about deadlines
- What to do after a car accident: learn your deadline
Plain steps after a crash: stay safe, get care, keep a record, talk to insurance companies carefully, and learn your state’s deadline to file.
- After a truck accident: your deadline to file still applies
How a crash with a big commercial truck differs from a car crash: federal safety rules, more than one company involved, larger insurance, and records that are only kept for a while.
- After a motorcycle or bike crash: your deadline to file
What’s different when you were on a motorcycle or a bicycle: keeping your helmet and gear, your rights on the road, helmet rules, fault, road hazards and insurance.
- Hit by a car while walking: your deadline to file
What to do if a car hit you while you were walking: first steps, the evidence that disappears fastest, whose insurance may pay, how fault gets argued, and your deadlines.
- After a slip and fall: your deadline to file
What to do after you fall on someone else’s property: get care, report it, keep a record, and learn the questions that decide a premises case, including falls on public property and at work.
- Wrongful death basics: the deadline often starts at the death
If someone in your family died because of another person’s carelessness: what a wrongful-death claim is, who can bring it, how it differs from a survival claim, getting records, and the deadline.
- Hurt at work: your deadlines
What to do after an injury on the job: get care, tell your employer in writing, and learn how workers’ compensation works and when a separate injury claim against someone else may exist.
- After a dog bite: your deadline to file
What to do after a dog bites you or your child: get care, find out who owns the dog, keep a record, and learn how state rules on dog bites differ.
- After a head or brain injury: deadlines keep running while you recover
What to do after a head injury from a crash, a fall or another accident: get checked, keep a record of how you feel, get help from family, and why legal deadlines keep running while you recover.
- When medical care goes wrong: deadlines are often different, and strict
What to do if you think a doctor, hospital or clinic hurt you: get care, get your records, and learn the extra steps and short deadlines that medical-malpractice claims often have, state by state.
- Deadlines in every state
The usual deadline in all 50 states and DC, side by side. Where we haven’t checked one yet, we say so.
How we list firms
How we list firms
We don’t rank firms. Listing is free and doesn’t depend on buying anything.
Firms are listed for free, in A–Z order. Every fact shows its source and date. We don’t recommend lawyers, and we don’t pass on your details.
Sources
Where the legal facts on this page come from
- La. R.S. 13:5107Read the source: La. R.S. 13:5107
- La. Civ. Code art. 2323Read the source: La. Civ. Code art. 2323
- 2025 La. Acts No. 15 (H.B. 431)Read the source: 2025 La. Acts No. 15 (H.B. 431)
- La. R.S. 9:5628Read the source: La. R.S. 9:5628
- La. Civ. Code art. 3468Read the source: La. Civ. Code art. 3468
This is general information, not legal advice.