Car Accident Lawyers in Louisiana

A driver in Louisiana is only required to carry $15,000 in bodily injury coverage per person — one of the lowest floors in the country. Pair that with a fault rule that just changed for the first time in decades, and Louisiana has become a genuinely different place to be hurt in a car crash than it was even two years ago.

A Tort State With a Thin Insurance Floor

Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:900 sets the state’s minimum liability requirement at 15/30/25: $15,000 per person and $30,000 per accident in bodily injury coverage, plus $25,000 in property damage coverage. A driver carrying only that minimum can leave little behind after a serious wreck, which is one reason Louisiana consistently ranks among the states with the highest average auto insurance premiums — insurers price in the risk that a thin liability floor creates.

Louisiana does not require uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage by statute, but insurers must offer it, and it applies automatically unless a driver rejects it in writing. Because the state’s liability minimum is so low, UM/UIM coverage on a driver’s own policy is frequently where the larger share of a recovery actually comes from.

The New 51% Fault Bar

For decades, Louisiana used pure comparative fault: a claimant’s damages were reduced by their own percentage of responsibility but never eliminated, even at 90% fault. That changed on January 1, 2026. Amended Civil Code Article 2323(A)(2)(a) now bars recovery outright once a claimant’s fault reaches 51% or more. Below that line, the old math still applies — a driver found 40% at fault on a $100,000 loss still collects $60,000. Cross it, and the claim is worth nothing, regardless of how the other driver behaved.

Two Years to File — Also a Recent Change

Civil Code Article 3493.1 gives injured drivers two years from the date of the crash to file suit, for wrecks occurring on or after July 1, 2024. Louisiana calls this a "prescription" period rather than a statute of limitations, a holdover from its civil-law vocabulary inherited from French and Spanish rule rather than English common law. Crashes before that July 2024 change remain subject to the state’s older, stricter one-year deadline.

No General Damage Cap

Louisiana places no ceiling on compensatory damages in an ordinary car accident case — medical bills, lost wages, future care, and pain and suffering can all be pursued for their full value. Punitive damages are barred across the board unless a specific statute authorizes them, most notably crashes caused by an intoxicated driver, and even then are capped at the greater of $500,000 or twice the compensatory award.

Finding the Right Attorney in Louisiana

The Lawyer Atlas is a directory, not a law firm — we do not give legal advice and we do not represent anyone. With the fault rule and filing deadline both having shifted in the last two years, the questions worth asking a prospective attorney go beyond fee structure: how do they account for when the crash occurred, and how do they push back when an insurer leans on the new 51% bar to deny a claim outright? Consultations are almost always free, and representation is nearly always contingency-based. Start with your city — Baton Rouge below has its own courts, highways, and local counsel worth knowing.