If you were hurt in Louisiana, the deadline to file a lawsuit generally begins on the date of the injury. For most injuries that occurred on or after July 1, 2024, Louisiana law gives personal injury claimants two years to file suit. Claims involving death, medical malpractice, or damage to a home or land can follow different rules.
Chaz Roberts Law helps injured people across Acadiana identify which Louisiana statute of limitations deadline applies to their claim and take action before it passes. Our team handles the investigation, insurance negotiations, and filing so you can focus on recovering. Contact Chaz Roberts Law at (337) 504-3202 for a free consultation.
What Is a Statute of Limitations in Louisiana?
A statute of limitations is the legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. In Louisiana, this deadline is called “liberative prescription.”
Personal injury claims are considered “delictual actions,” which are claims arising from another person’s wrongful or negligent conduct. Louisiana law gives these claims a two-year prescriptive period, generally beginning on the day the injury or damage occurred.
Once that period expires, the claim is “prescribed.” At that point, the responsible party can ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit because it was filed too late.
How Long Do You Have to File a Personal Injury Lawsuit in Louisiana?
The answer depends mainly on when the injury happened. Louisiana changed its general deadline in 2024, so the date of your accident determines which rule applies.
The Two-Year Rule for Most Personal Injury Claims
Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 3493.1, delictual actions are subject to a two-year prescriptive period that begins on the day the injury or damage is sustained. This rule covers most personal injury claims, including those arising from vehicle crashes, falls, dog bites, and other accidents caused by negligence.
How the July 1, 2024, Law Change Affects Older Claims
Before the law changed, Louisiana gave injured people only one year to file most personal injury lawsuits, one of the shortest deadlines in the country.
In 2024, Act 423 repealed the one year rule and replaced it with a two year deadline for most injury claims. However, the new law took effect on July 1, 2024, and applies only to claims arising on or after that date.
If your injury occurred before July 1, 2024, the former one year deadline generally still applies. Because that period has now passed for most older claims, the deadline may already have expired unless an exception applied or prescription was interrupted or suspended.
When Does the Filing Deadline Start?
For most injury claims, the two year period starts on the day the injury occurs, not the day you finish treatment or receive a settlement offer. In a car crash, that is usually the date of the collision.
Louisiana courts recognize a narrow doctrine known as contra non valentem, which can delay the start of prescription when a person could not reasonably have known about the injury or its cause. Courts apply it sparingly, and it should never be treated as a reason to wait. Some claims follow different discovery rules.
Louisiana Filing Deadlines by Type of Claim
Different types of claims carry different deadlines and start dates. Here is how the most common claims compare.
Car Accidents, Truck Accidents, and Slip-and-Fall Claims
Car accident claims, 18-wheeler accident claims, and slip-and-fall claims are all delictual actions. If the accident happened after July 1, 2024, you generally have two years from the date of the injury to file suit. If it happened before that date, the one-year rule applies.
Wrongful Death Claims
Under Civil Code Article 2315.2, a wrongful death claim generally prescribes one year from the date of death or two years from the date of injury, whichever is longer. This rule applies to deaths occurring on or after August 1, 2025. Claims involving earlier deaths may remain subject to the former one year from death rule.
Survival Actions
A survival action follows the same general timing rule of one year from death or two years from the date of injury, whichever is longer, for deaths occurring on or after August 1, 2025. Because survival and wrongful death claims are separate, each requires its own deadline analysis.
Medical Malpractice Claims
Medical malpractice claims follow Louisiana Revised Statutes 9:5628. A claim must be filed within one year from the date of the alleged act, omission, or neglect, or within one year from the date it was discovered. Even with a late discovery, every claim must be filed no later than three years from the date of the alleged malpractice. Special rules may apply to minors and people with certain legal disabilities. Louisiana also requires most claims against qualified healthcare providers to go before a medical review panel before a lawsuit can proceed, which affects how the deadline is calculated.
Property Damage Claims
The Louisiana property damage statute of limitations depends on the type of property. Damage to movable property, such as a car damaged in a wreck, falls under the general two-year rule that begins on the day of the damage. Damage to immovable property, such as a home or land, is different. Under Civil Code Article 3493.2, the two-year period begins on the day the owner knew or should have known about the damage. That discovery rule matters for problems like foundation damage or flooding caused by someone else’s work, which may not be apparent right away.
Can Louisiana’s Personal Injury Filing Deadline Be Paused or Restarted?
In limited circumstances, yes. Louisiana law allows prescription to be interrupted or suspended, but these rules are narrow and technical.
Interruption and Suspension of Prescription
Interrupts prescription and starts a new prescriptive period. Under Civil Code Article 3462, filing suit in a court of competent jurisdiction and venue interrupts prescription. If the suit is filed in the wrong court or the wrong venue, prescription is interrupted only as to defendants served within the prescriptive period. Under Civil Code Article 3466, once a prescription is interrupted, the time that has already run is not counted, and a new period begins from the last day of interruption.
Suspension pauses the clock without erasing the time that has already passed. The medical review panel process in malpractice cases is one example.
Claims Involving Minors and Other Special Circumstances
Louisiana law generally provides that the two year prescription period for delictual actions does not run against minors or interdicts. However, exceptions and special rules can apply, particularly in medical malpractice and product liability cases. Families should have the specific facts reviewed promptly rather than assuming extra time is available.
Do Insurance Negotiations or Ongoing Treatment Extend the Deadline?
Generally, no. Talking with an insurance adjuster, receiving a settlement offer, or continuing medical treatment does not stop the prescriptive period. In narrow circumstances, an insurer’s conduct may constitute an acknowledgment that interrupts prescription, but whether that occurred depends on the specific facts.
For more on how insurance companies approach claims and deadlines, listen to Chaz Roberts discuss Louisiana’s prescriptive period on the Law Have Mercy! podcast.
What Happens If You Miss the Filing Deadline?
If you file after the prescriptive period ends, the defendant can raise an exception of prescription, and the court will usually dismiss the case. Once that happens, you lose the right to recover compensation through the courts, regardless of how clear the other party’s fault was or how serious your injuries are. Missing the deadline also removes most of your leverage in settlement talks, since the insurer no longer faces the risk of a lawsuit.
How Chaz Roberts Law Can Help Protect Your Claim
Determining which deadline applies, when it began, and whether anything interrupted it requires a careful review of the facts. Chaz Roberts founded the firm in Lafayette in 2010 after earning both a Juris Doctor and a Diploma of Civil Law from LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center, giving him training grounded in the same Civil Code that governs Louisiana’s prescription deadlines.
Our team handles every stage of a personal injury case, from gathering evidence and negotiating with insurance companies to filing a lawsuit and representing clients in court when necessary. We explain each step in plain English so you always know where your case stands.
We treat the people who trust us like family, and that approach has helped us achieve meaningful results for injured Louisianans. For example, the firm secured:
- A $4 million recovery in a commercial vehicle collision case
- A $3.25 million recovery in a disputed-liability 18-wheeler case
- A $2 million recovery in a commercial vehicle collision involving a failure to yield
If you were injured in Louisiana and are unsure how much time you have to file, a free consultation can help you understand your deadline before it becomes a problem.
Contact Chaz Roberts Law at (337) 504-3202 to protect your claim.
