Louisiana changed how it handles shared fault in injury cases, and the change affects anyone hurt in Slidell. A person who bears too much of the blame for an accident can now lose the right to recover anything. We explain what the article says, what it reaches, and why the date of the injury needs attention.
What Changed on January 1, 2026
Louisiana Civil Code Article 2323 governs how fault is shared in any action for damages. Paragraph A now sets a fifty-one percent bar, and paragraph D is new. The article reaches claims for injury, death, or loss.
The legislature made the changes through Act 15 of 2025. The Act states that it became effective on January 1, 2026, and its text doesn’t reach back to earlier injuries. The injury date is the first fact we check.
The Fifty-One Percent Bar
The article now sets a hard line. If the percentage of negligence attributable to the injured person is equal to or greater than fifty-one percent, that person isn’t entitled to recover damages. If the percentage is less than fifty-one, the recoverable amount is reduced in proportion to the injured person’s share. A person found forty percent at fault would see damages cut by forty percent.
Fault Reaches People Outside the Lawsuit
The article requires the fault of everyone who caused or contributed to the harm to be determined, whether or not that person is a party to the case. It applies regardless of the person’s insolvency, ability to pay, or statutory immunity. Paragraph B extends the same rule to any claim for damages.
The Exception for Intentional Wrongdoing
Paragraph C carves out one situation. If an injured person was partly negligent and partly harmed by the fault of an intentional tortfeasor, the claim for damages isn’t reduced. Paragraph D adds a rule for trials, requiring a jury instruction on the effect of the article.
Evidence That Limits Your Share of Fault
Every percentage point assigned to the injured person lowers recovery. Evidence that shows what the other side did carries more weight now, so the proof should be gathered early. Useful records include:
- Photographs of the scene before anything is moved
- Statements from people who saw what happened
- Surveillance, dash camera, or traffic camera footage
- The crash or incident report
- Medical records that tie each injury to the event
Avoidable errors can feed a fault argument. Knowing the car accident mistakes helps a person avoid giving the other side material in the first days. Recorded statements and social media posts are two places where that happens.
Our Slidell personal injury lawyer team gathers this proof early and tests every account against it. The goal is to hold the injured person’s share below the bar. That work starts at the first meeting.
Shared Fault on Someone Else’s Property
A customer who slips in a store may face an argument that the customer wasn’t watching the floor. Our Slidell slip and fall lawyer team answers that argument with evidence about the hazard and how long it was there. The owner’s share and the visitor’s share are weighed together, and each side’s evidence moves the percentages.
Shared Fault After a Crash
Crashes follow the same arithmetic. Our Slidell car accident lawyer team compares each driver’s account with the damage and the scene. The comparison shows where each driver’s share of fault belongs.
When the other driver was impaired, Louisiana law on recovery against impaired drivers explains when damages can go beyond ordinary compensation. That rule depends on proof of the impairment. We document it from the first day, through the police report and any test results.
Serious Injuries Raise the Stakes
The larger the claim, the more a fault percentage is worth. Settlement offers turn on case value factors, and a reduction of even a few points changes the number. A claim with future surgeries or lifelong care has more at stake.
Our Slidell catastrophic injury lawyer team builds the claim with the fault question in mind from the first week. We gather the medical and employment records that support future care. That proof limits how much of the blame an insurer can assign.
Working With Our Firm
At Kiefer & Kiefer, we represent injured people across Louisiana. Partner Megan Kiefer earned her J.D. at Tulane University Law School in 2009 and completed training and certification in mediation and negotiation at Humboldt University of Berlin. In 2023 we tried a slip-and-fall case to a Houma jury after a $90,000 offer at mediation, and the jury awarded our client over $850,000. Louisiana’s new fault rule makes the facts of each case more important, and people hurt in Slidell can reach out to us so we can go through the evidence together.
