People injured in Louisiana due to the misconduct or negligence of others have legal rights. In some cases, they may have access to insurance coverage that can offset some of their losses. State statutes also allow for personal injury lawsuits when people have significant expenses that insurance cannot cover. It is possible to file a lawsuit against either a person or a business because of a car crash, a defective product or unsafe property conditions.
Historically, Louisiana has enforced a pure comparative fault model for personal injury lawsuits. However, beginning on the first day of 2026, a new rule now controls the outcome of personal injury lawsuits. Louisiana lawmakers adopted a modified comparative fault statute that changes who is lawfully eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit.
What is modified comparative fault?
The term “comparative fault” refers to the partial responsibility each party may have for an incident that resulted in injury. The driver who ran a red light may be mostly at fault for a crash, but the driver they struck could bear a degree of blame because of a minor mistake, such as the failure to use a turn signal.
Under prior negligence rules in Louisiana, even those who are mostly at fault for an incident could file a lawsuit holding the other party accountable. After the courts determined the percentage of fault that each party had, the final award of damages reflected the percentage of fault held by the defendant in the lawsuit.
Under the modified comparative fault law now in place, only those who are less than 50% responsible for an incident have the option of filing a personal injury lawsuit against another party. The same rule for adjusting compensation applies.
Once the courts determine an appropriate amount of damages, they adjust that award based on the percentage of fault held by the plaintiff. An individual who was 20% at fault for a crash is still able to file a lawsuit seeking compensation from the party that holds 80% of the fault. However, the party that is 80% at fault could not take action against the driver who has 20% of the responsibility for the incident.
Complex negligence laws can be difficult to understand for those handling the aftermath of a recent car crash or similar incident. Reviewing the circumstances of a recent injury with an attorney can help people determine if they could benefit from filing a personal injury lawsuit and may make it easier for them to estimate the damages that they could potentially recover accordingly.