LOUISIANA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS
Louisiana is the single most distinctive bar-exam jurisdiction in the United States. It is the only state whose private law is rooted in the civil-law tradition—descended from Roman law through the French Code civil and the Spanish Las Siete Partidas—rather than the English common law that governs the other forty-nine states. As a result, Louisiana does not use the Uniform Bar Examination, does not give the MEE or MPT, and tests its own subjects out of the Louisiana Civil Code, the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, the Louisiana Code of Evidence, and Louisiana statutory law. Where the rest of the country says "Contracts," Louisiana says "Obligations." Where the common law says "statute of limitations," Louisiana says "prescription." Where the common law speaks of "consideration," Louisiana speaks of "cause." This page is therefore not a short list of tweaks to a national outline; it is a treatise on a fundamentally different legal system.
📘 Louisiana is a CIVIL-LAW jurisdiction and does NOT administer the Uniform Bar Exam. The national common-law MBE/MEE outlines are only COMPARATIVE BACKGROUND for Louisiana—they describe the system Louisiana rejected for private law. For the comparative common-law baseline, see the MBE Subject Outlines and MEE Subject Outlines, but on the Louisiana exam you must apply the Louisiana Civil Code, the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, and the Louisiana Code of Evidence.
I. THE LOUISIANA EXAM FORMAT AND CIVIL-LAW SYSTEM
Because Louisiana law is structurally different, the exam is structurally different. You cannot transfer a UBE score into Louisiana, and the law you are tested on is overwhelmingly Louisiana-specific.
A. The Louisiana Bar Examination Format
LA Rule: Louisiana administers its own bar examination—not the UBE. The exam is given over multiple days and consists of essay-style code questions on nine separately graded subject areas: (1) Civil Code I (Persons, Family, Matrimonial Regimes/Community Property); (2) Civil Code II (Obligations, Conventional Obligations/Contracts, Sale, Lease); (3) Civil Code III (Property, Successions, Donations, Trusts, Security Devices); (4) Code of Civil Procedure; (5) Constitutional Law; (6) Criminal Law, Procedure, and Evidence; (7) Business Entities and Commercial Law (including Louisiana's enactment of the UCC); (8) Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure; and (9) Torts (Conventional and Louisiana-specific delictual liability). The subjects are heavily code-based: the examinee is expected to know and apply specific Civil Code articles. LA Rule: Louisiana does not administer the MBE, the MEE, or the MPT, and a UBE score earned elsewhere is not transferable to Louisiana.
B. The Civil-Law Method
LA Rule: In Louisiana, the Civil Code is the primary source of law, and judicial decisions are not binding precedent in the common-law sense (no formal stare decisis); instead, a settled line of cases forms jurisprudence constante, which is persuasive. The interpreter begins with the text of the code article, then legislative intent, then equity. National/common law: courts build doctrine case-by-case and are bound by precedent. Louisiana: courts apply the enacted code articles, and "the sources of law are legislation and custom" (La. C.C. art. 1). This is the deepest conceptual divergence and explains why every substantive section below starts from a code article rather than a case.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: On every Louisiana essay, cite and apply the governing Civil Code article by number and concept rather than reciting a common-law rule. Graders reward code-based reasoning—identify the article, state its rule, and apply it. Writing "under the common law, consideration requires…" on a Louisiana Obligations question signals you do not understand the system.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: Reframe your entire mental vocabulary before studying: "Contracts" → Obligations; "statute of limitations" → prescription; "consideration" → cause; "easement" → predial servitude; "life estate/remainder" → usufruct/naked ownership; "elective share" → forced heirship; "equitable distribution/separate property" → community property regime. If you keep translating into common-law terms, you will miss the article that controls.
II. THE LAW OF OBLIGATIONS (NOT "CONTRACTS")
What the common law calls Contracts, Louisiana subsumes within the broader civil-law category of Obligations (La. C.C. arts. 1756 et seq.). An obligation is a legal relationship whereby an obligor is bound to render a performance in favor of an obligee. Obligations arise from contracts, from offenses and quasi-offenses (delicts—the tort analogue), and from the law itself (e.g., quasi-contracts like management of affairs and payment of a thing not owed).
A. Cause vs. Consideration
LA Rule: A Louisiana contract requires cause, not consideration. "Cause is the reason why a party obligates himself" (La. C.C. art. 1967). Crucially, cause is not bargained-for exchange. A gratuitous contract—one in which a party binds himself for the benefit of another without expecting anything in return—is fully valid in Louisiana because the donative intent is the cause. National/common law: a promise is unenforceable without bargained-for consideration, so a gratuitous promise generally fails. Louisiana: a gratuitous promise supported by a lawful donative cause is enforceable. This is one of the most heavily tested obligations distinctions.
B. The Requisites of a Valid Contract
LA Rule: The four requisites of a valid Louisiana contract are: capacity (La. C.C. art. 1918), consent freely given (arts. 1927, 1948—vitiated by error, fraud, or duress), a lawful and possible object (art. 1971), and a lawful cause (art. 1966). National: offer, acceptance, consideration, and (sometimes) a writing. Louisiana: consent + capacity + object + cause. Consent is formed by offer and acceptance, but the organizing concepts are the four code requisites.
C. Vices of Consent: Error, Fraud, Duress
LA Rule: Consent may be vitiated by error (mistake bearing on the principal cause, art. 1949), fraud (a misrepresentation or suppression of truth made to obtain an unjust advantage, art. 1953), or duress (art. 1959). A contract affected by a vice of consent is relatively null and may be confirmed; an absolute nullity (violation of public order) cannot be confirmed (arts. 2030–2031). National: doctrines of mistake, misrepresentation, and duress exist but are organized differently. Louisiana: master the error/fraud/duress framework and the absolute-vs-relative-nullity distinction.
D. Lesion Beyond Moiety
LA Rule: Louisiana retains the civilian doctrine of lesion beyond moiety (La. C.C. arts. 1965, 2589 et seq.): in a sale of an immovable, if the seller receives less than one-half (a moiety) of the fair market value of the thing at the time of sale, the seller may rescind for lesion. The buyer may avoid rescission by paying a supplement to make up the just price. Lesion is generally limited to sales of immovables and a few other enumerated situations (and partition); it does not apply to most movable sales. National/common law: courts will not police the adequacy of consideration—an unfair price is generally not a ground to rescind. Louisiana: a grossly inadequate price for an immovable is itself a ground to rescind. This has no common-law analogue and is a signature Louisiana doctrine.
E. Putting in Default and Dissolution
LA Rule: When an obligor fails to perform, the obligee may seek specific performance, dissolution, or damages (arts. 1986 et seq.). Louisiana favors specific performance of an obligation to do more readily than the common law, which treats damages as the norm and specific performance as exceptional. For damages to accrue, the obligor often must be put in default (mise en demeure). National: damages are the default remedy; specific performance is an exceptional equitable remedy. Louisiana: specific performance is more freely available, and the "putting in default" mechanism governs when damages begin.
F. Stipulation Pour Autrui
LA Rule: Louisiana expressly recognizes the stipulation pour autrui—a contract for the benefit of a third party (art. 1978)—the civilian third-party-beneficiary doctrine, with its own requirements (a clear intent to benefit the third party, certainty of the benefit, and that the benefit not be a mere incident of the contract). National: third-party-beneficiary doctrine exists but uses intended/incidental beneficiary terminology. Louisiana: apply the article 1978 stipulation pour autrui framework.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: On a Louisiana obligations essay, build the analysis around the four requisites (capacity, consent, object, cause), then test for vices of consent and nullity, then address performance, default, and remedies. Always reach for "cause," never "consideration," and flag lesion whenever an immovable is sold for a suspiciously low price.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: The three obligations doctrines that have no clean common-law equivalent—gratuitous contracts (cause, not consideration), lesion beyond moiety, and the strong availability of specific performance—are perennial favorites. Know the article numbers.
III. PRESCRIPTION (NOT "STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS")
Louisiana does not use "statutes of limitations." It uses prescription, a civilian concept that comes in two principal flavors: liberative prescription (which extinguishes a claim by inaction over time—the limitations analogue) and acquisitive prescription (which creates ownership through possession over time—the adverse-possession analogue).
A. Liberative Prescription Periods
LA Rule: Key liberative prescriptive periods (La. C.C. art. 3493.11, enacted by 2024 La. Act 423; formerly art. 3492) include: delictual (tort) actions—formerly one year, extended to two years for tort claims arising on or after July 1, 2024 under recent legislation; actions on most contracts/personal actions—ten years (art. 3499); actions for past-due rent and certain open accounts—three years (art. 3494); and actions on negotiable instruments and certain others with their own periods. National/common law: limitations periods are labeled differently and tort periods are commonly two to three years. Louisiana: the headline historical distinction is the famously short one-year prescriptive period for delictual (tort) actions, now lengthened to two years for newer claims—candidates must check the date of the wrong.
B. Interruption, Suspension, and Contra Non Valentem
LA Rule: Prescription can be interrupted (e.g., by filing suit or by the debtor's acknowledgment, which restarts the clock) or suspended (the clock pauses). Louisiana also recognizes the equitable doctrine contra non valentem, under which prescription does not run against a person who is unable to act—functionally similar to the common-law discovery rule but a distinct civilian doctrine. National: tolling and the discovery rule. Louisiana: interruption, suspension, and contra non valentem.
C. Prescription vs. Peremption
LA Rule: Louisiana distinguishes prescription from peremption—a period fixed by law for the existence of a right, which cannot be interrupted or suspended and, when it runs, destroys the right itself (arts. 3458–3461). National: statutes of repose are the rough analogue. Louisiana: peremption is absolute and is not subject to contra non valentem.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: Never write "statute of limitations" on a Louisiana exam—write "prescription," identify whether the period is liberative or peremptive, state the article and period, and address interruption/suspension/contra non valentem. For tort claims, expressly check whether the cause of action arose before or on/after July 1, 2024, to choose the one-year or two-year period.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: Memorize the core periods—delictual one year (two years for post-July-1-2024 claims), personal/contractual ten years, rent and open accounts three years—and the peremption-vs-prescription line (peremption cannot be interrupted and kills the right).
IV. CIVIL-LAW PROPERTY (NOT COMMON-LAW ESTATES)
Louisiana property law is built from Roman categories, not the common-law system of estates and future interests. The Civil Code classifies things as movables and immovables (not "personal" and "real" property) and recognizes a closed list of real rights.
A. Ownership, Usufruct, and Naked Ownership
LA Rule: Full ownership can be split into usufruct (the right to use and enjoy a thing and its fruits—the usufructuary) and naked ownership (the right to the thing itself, burdened by the usufruct—the naked owner) (La. C.C. arts. 535 et seq.). When the usufruct ends (typically at the usufructuary's death), full ownership is reunited in the naked owner. National/common law: the analogous split is life estate (usufruct) and remainder (naked ownership), but the rights and obligations differ—e.g., a usufructuary of consumables (a "quasi-usufruct") may consume them and owes their value at the end. Louisiana: apply usufruct/naked-ownership rules, including the usufructuary's duties to preserve the substance and account.
B. Predial Servitudes (Not "Easements")
LA Rule: Louisiana recognizes predial servitudes—charges on a servient estate for the benefit of a dominant estate (La. C.C. arts. 646 et seq.)—the civilian analogue to easements appurtenant. They may be natural (e.g., the servitude of natural drainage), legal (imposed by law, such as the right of passage for an enclosed estate), or conventional (created by juridical act). Louisiana also recognizes personal servitudes (usufruct, use, and habitation) attached to a person rather than an estate. National: easements (appurtenant and in gross), profits, and licenses. Louisiana: predial vs. personal servitudes with their own creation and extinction rules (including extinction by ten-year nonuse).
C. Acquisitive Prescription (Not "Adverse Possession")
LA Rule: Title to immovables can be acquired by acquisitive prescription (La. C.C. arts. 3473 et seq.): ten years with good faith and just title, or thirty years without good faith or just title, based on continuous, uninterrupted, peaceable, public, and unequivocal possession. National/common law: adverse possession with a single statutory period (often with tacking and color-of-title nuances). Louisiana: the ten-year (good faith + just title) and thirty-year (bald possession) tracks are the framework—do not call it "adverse possession" or apply a common-law period.
D. Co-Ownership and Other Real Rights
LA Rule: Louisiana's co-ownership (arts. 797 et seq.) governs ownership in indivision, with rights to use, partition, and reimbursement; it is not "joint tenancy/tenancy in common," and there is generally no right of survivorship by default (a key trap—Louisiana traditionally disfavored survivorship). Louisiana also recognizes building restrictions, mineral rights (governed by the Louisiana Mineral Code, which treats the mineral servitude as prescribing in ten years of nonuse), and the right of use and habitation. National: joint tenancy with right of survivorship is common. Louisiana: default co-ownership has no survivorship.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: On a Louisiana property essay, classify the thing as movable or immovable, identify the real right at issue (ownership, usufruct/naked ownership, predial or personal servitude, co-ownership), and apply the code's creation/extinction rules—especially ten-year nonuse for servitudes and the ten-/thirty-year acquisitive-prescription tracks. Avoid all common-law estate vocabulary.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: Three property concepts dominate the exam—usufruct/naked ownership (often arising in successions), predial servitudes (and their extinction by ten-year nonuse), and acquisitive prescription (10 years good faith/just title vs. 30 years). Survivorship is not the default in co-ownership.
V. COMMUNITY PROPERTY (THE MATRIMONIAL REGIME)
Louisiana is a community-property state, and its matrimonial-regime law (La. C.C. arts. 2325 et seq.) is one of the most heavily tested subjects on the exam. This section gets the most depth.
A. The Legal Regime of Community of Acquets and Gains
LA Rule: Absent a valid matrimonial agreement, spouses domiciled in Louisiana are subject to the legal regime of community of acquets and gains (La. C.C. art. 2334). Property of married persons is classified as community or separate (art. 2335). There is a presumption that things in the possession of a spouse during the regime are community (art. 2340); a spouse claiming an asset is separate bears the burden to prove it. National/common law: equitable-distribution states have no community presumption and divide "marital property" equitably at divorce. Louisiana: each spouse owns a present, undivided one-half interest in the community as it is acquired.
B. Community Property Defined
LA Rule: Community property (art. 2338) includes property acquired during the regime through the effort, skill, or industry of either spouse; property acquired with community things or with community and separate things (unless classified as separate by the rules on commingling); the natural and civil fruits of community property; and the fruits and revenues of separate property unless reserved as separate by a declaration recorded under article 2339. National: in equitable-distribution states, income from separate property is often separate. Louisiana: fruits of separate property are community by default—a major distinction—unless the owner spouse executes and records a declaration of paraphernality reserving them.
C. Separate Property Defined
LA Rule: Separate property (art. 2341) comprises property acquired by a spouse before the community; property acquired by inheritance or donation to a spouse individually; property acquired with separate things or with separate and community things when the community portion is inconsequential; damages for personal injuries (the portion not for lost community earnings); and things acquired by a spouse as separate under a reservation. National: similar carve-outs exist but without the community presumption to overcome. Louisiana: the claimant must rebut the community presumption to establish separate character.
D. Management and Alienation
LA Rule: Spouses generally have equal management of community property (art. 2346): either spouse acting alone may manage community things. However, concurrence of both spouses is required to alienate, encumber, or lease community immovables, to sell community movables registered under federal or state law, and for certain other major transactions (art. 2347). A transaction made without required concurrence is relatively null and may be attacked by the non-consenting spouse. National: management rules vary; many equitable-distribution states key control to title. Louisiana: equal management with concurrence required for immovables and major assets.
E. Termination, Classification of Specific Assets, and Reimbursement
LA Rule: The community terminates by death, divorce, judgment of separation of property, or matrimonial agreement (art. 2356). Upon termination it is partitioned, with each spouse owning one-half (art. 2336). Louisiana has detailed rules for hard cases: pensions and retirement benefits earned during the regime are community to the extent attributable to community labor (the Sims formula); life-insurance proceeds and personal-injury recoveries are apportioned by their nature; and increases in the value of separate property due to community labor or funds give rise to a claim for reimbursement (arts. 2364–2368), not reclassification. National: equitable distribution divides everything by fairness factors. Louisiana: classify each asset, then award reimbursement claims where one estate's funds or labor enhanced the other estate.
F. Matrimonial Agreements
LA Rule: Spouses may opt out of or modify the legal regime by a matrimonial agreement (prenuptial or, during marriage, with court approval) executed by authentic act or by act under private signature duly acknowledged (arts. 2328–2329). They may establish a regime of separation of property. National: prenuptial agreements under the UPAA. Louisiana: the matrimonial agreement must meet civilian form requirements, and post-nuptial modifications generally require court approval.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: Drive every community-property essay off the article 2340 community presumption first, then classify each asset under articles 2338 (community) and 2341 (separate), remembering that fruits of separate property are community absent a recorded reservation. Resolve enhancements with reimbursement claims, not reclassification, and flag the article 2347 concurrence requirement whenever a spouse alienates a community immovable alone.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: The two most-tested community-property traps are (1) fruits/revenues of separate property are community by default, and (2) one spouse cannot alienate or encumber a community immovable without the other's concurrence (relative nullity if violated). Master reimbursement under articles 2364–2368 for value enhancements.
VI. FAMILY LAW (PERSONS)
A. Covenant Marriage and Divorce
LA Rule: Louisiana offers an optional covenant marriage (La. R.S. 9:272 et seq.), which requires premarital counseling and limits the grounds for divorce. For an ordinary marriage, no-fault divorce is available after the spouses have lived separate and apart for the requisite period—180 days with no minor children, or 365 days with minor children (La. C.C. art. 103.1)—or immediately on certain fault grounds (adultery, felony conviction). National: no-fault divorce is universal but the waiting structure differs. Louisiana: the covenant-marriage option and the 180/365-day living-separate-and-apart periods are distinctive.
B. Spousal Support and Filiation
LA Rule: Louisiana awards interim and final periodic spousal support; final support requires the claimant to be free from fault and is capped at one-third of the obligor's net income (arts. 111–112). Louisiana has its own detailed law of filiation (establishing parentage), including a strong presumption that the husband of the mother is the father (art. 185) and avowal/disavowal actions. National: paternity and alimony frameworks vary. Louisiana: apply the freedom-from-fault requirement and the one-third cap on final support, and the filiation presumptions.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: For Louisiana family-law essays, identify whether the marriage is ordinary or covenant, apply the correct living-separate-and-apart period (180 vs. 365 days), and test final spousal support against the freedom-from-fault requirement and one-third-of-net-income cap.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: Covenant marriage and the 180/365-day rule are reliable family-law points; the freedom-from-fault prerequisite for final support is a frequent trap.
VII. SUCCESSIONS, DONATIONS, AND TRUSTS
Louisiana's law of inheritance is purely civilian and diverges sharply from the common law of wills and trusts. The governing rules are in the Civil Code articles on Successions and Donations (arts. 871 et seq.) and the separate Louisiana Trust Code.
A. Forced Heirship
LA Rule: Louisiana is the only state that retains forced heirship (La. C.C. arts. 1493 et seq.). A testator cannot freely disinherit certain forced heirs—now limited (after the 1995/1996 constitutional and code amendments) to descendants of the first degree who are 23 years of age or younger at the decedent's death, or who, because of mental incapacity or physical infirmity, are permanently incapable of caring for themselves or administering their estate (and, by representation, certain grandchildren). The portion reserved to forced heirs is the legitime (forced portion): one-fourth of the estate if there is one forced heir, and one-half if there are two or more (art. 1495). The remainder is the disposable portion, which the testator may give freely. National/common law: a testator may disinherit children entirely; only the surviving spouse is protected by an elective share. Louisiana: children who qualify cannot be disinherited, and the legitime must be left to them (subject to limited grounds for disinherison under arts. 1617–1626).
B. The Usufruct of the Surviving Spouse
LA Rule: Where the decedent leaves descendants, the surviving spouse receives, by operation of law, a usufruct over the decedent's share of the community property (the marital portion) until the spouse's death or remarriage, with the naked ownership going to the descendants (La. C.C. art. 890). National: surviving spouses take outright shares or elective shares. Louisiana: the surviving spouse's usufruct over the community, paired with the descendants' naked ownership, is a defining feature of Louisiana successions.
C. Intestate Succession Order
LA Rule: Louisiana's intestate order (arts. 880 et seq.) distinguishes separate and community property. As to community property, the decedent's half passes to descendants (subject to the surviving spouse's usufruct); if no descendants, to the surviving spouse. As to separate property, it passes first to descendants, then to siblings (subject to a usufruct in the surviving spouse in some configurations) and parents, then to the surviving spouse, then to more remote collaterals. National: intestacy schemes give the spouse a large share alongside descendants. Louisiana: the descendants-first structure for separate property and the spousal usufruct for community property are distinctive.
D. Donations: Form and the Olographic Testament
LA Rule: Louisiana classifies gratuitous transfers as donations inter vivos (during life) and donations mortis causa (testaments). A donation inter vivos of an immovable generally must be made by authentic act (before a notary and two witnesses) (art. 1541). Louisiana recognizes two testament forms: the notarial testament (executed before a notary and two witnesses with a specific attestation clause, art. 1577) and the olographic testament—a testament entirely written, dated, and signed in the testator's own hand (art. 1575), requiring no witnesses. National: common-law wills require attesting witnesses; many states recognize holographic wills but with different rules; the term "olographic" is unique to Louisiana. Louisiana: the olographic testament (whole-handwriting + date + signature) and the notarial testament with its precise attestation clause are the two valid forms.
E. Trusts: Originally Foreign to the Civil Law, Now the Louisiana Trust Code
LA Rule: The common-law trust—splitting legal and equitable title—was historically foreign to Louisiana's civil-law system, which did not recognize the bifurcation of ownership the trust depends on. Trusts were prohibited or sharply restricted until the legislature authorized them by statute. Today, trusts are permitted but are governed exclusively by the Louisiana Trust Code (La. R.S. 9:1721 et seq.), a special statute with civilian features—not the common-law law of trusts. The Trust Code defines the trust as a relationship resulting from the transfer of title to a trustee to administer for a beneficiary, and it imposes rules (e.g., on the legitime in trust, permissible terms, and class trusts) that differ from common-law trust doctrine. National: trusts are a core common-law institution with centuries of equity jurisprudence. Louisiana: apply the Louisiana Trust Code as a statutory creation, and never assume common-law trust rules carry over.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: On a Louisiana successions essay, first determine whether the decedent died testate or intestate; if testate, validate the testament's form (notarial vs. olographic) and then check forced heirship—identify any forced heir (23-or-younger descendant or incapacitated descendant), compute the legitime (1/4 or 1/2), and recognize the surviving spouse's usufruct over the community. Treat any trust question under the Louisiana Trust Code, not common-law principles.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: The four pillars of Louisiana successions—forced heirship/legitime, the surviving spouse's usufruct, the olographic testament, and the descendants-first intestate order—appear constantly. Remember that common-law trust doctrine does not govern; the Louisiana Trust Code does.
VIII. THE LOUISIANA CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE
Louisiana state-court civil practice is governed by the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (La. C.C.P.), a code with civilian terminology and several devices that have no exact common-law counterpart. Federal procedure is tested separately; the items below are Louisiana state procedure.
A. Civilian Pleading Vocabulary
LA Rule: Louisiana uses distinctive procedural terms: the plaintiff files a petition (not a "complaint"); the defendant raises exceptions (dilatory, declinatory, and peremptory) rather than common-law motions to dismiss. The peremptory exception raises defenses such as no cause of action, no right of action, res judicata, and prescription; the declinatory exception challenges jurisdiction and venue; the dilatory exception raises matters like prematurity or vagueness. National (FRCP): the Rule 12 motion family. Louisiana: master the three classes of exceptions, especially the distinction between the exception of no cause of action (the petition states no legally cognizable claim, tested on the face of the pleading) and the exception of no right of action (this particular plaintiff has no interest/standing to bring the claim)—a uniquely Louisiana pairing.
B. Fact Pleading and Other Distinctions
LA Rule: Louisiana is a fact-pleading jurisdiction—the petition must allege the material facts on which the claim is based, in contrast to federal notice pleading. Louisiana also has its own rules on jury trials (no jury below a statutory amount-in-controversy threshold for many cases historically; civil jury practice is more limited than federal), default judgments (the preliminary default/confirmation procedure), and appellate review (Louisiana appellate courts review facts as well as law, with a manifest error standard, not the federal clearly-erroneous-only/no-fact-review model). National: notice pleading, broad civil jury right, deferential appellate fact review. Louisiana: fact pleading, narrower civil jury access, and de novo-flavored appellate factual review under the manifest-error standard.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: On a Louisiana procedure essay, use the correct vocabulary—petition, exceptions—and when a defendant attacks the pleading, separate the exception of no cause of action (face of the petition; can the law afford relief on these facts?) from the exception of no right of action (does this plaintiff have the legal interest to sue?). Mixing the two is the classic Louisiana procedure error.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: The no-cause/no-right exception distinction and the three classes of exceptions are heavily tested. Also remember fact pleading and the appellate manifest-error standard, which differ markedly from federal practice.
IX. TORTS (DELICTUAL LIABILITY)
A. The General Delict: Civil Code Article 2315
LA Rule: Louisiana tort law flows from a single, sweeping code article: "Every act whatever of man that causes damage to another obliges him by whose fault it happened to repair it" (La. C.C. art. 2315). This delictual liability framework is supplemented by articles on the fault of things in one's custody (garde, art. 2317), animals (art. 2321), and buildings (art. 2322). Louisiana uses a duty-risk analysis (duty, breach, cause-in-fact, scope of liability/legal cause, and damages) rather than the common-law negligence elements verbatim. National: negligence is duty, breach, causation, damages built case-by-case. Louisiana: start from article 2315 and apply duty-risk; "negligence" exists but is framed as fault under the code.
B. Comparative Fault: PURE Comparative
LA Rule: Louisiana applies pure comparative fault (La. C.C. art. 2323). A claimant's recovery is reduced in proportion to the claimant's percentage of fault but is never barred, even if the claimant is more at fault than the defendant. National: jurisdictions split among pure comparative, modified-50%, modified-51%, and contributory negligence. Louisiana: pure comparative—contrast Iowa's modified 51% bar and Kansas's modified 50% bar.
C. Several Liability and Solidary Obligations
LA Rule: Louisiana has largely moved to several (proportionate) liability: under article 2323/2324, joint tortfeasors are generally liable only for their own share of fault rather than in solido (solidarily), except in limited circumstances (such as intentional concerted action). National: many states retain partial joint-and-several liability. Louisiana: the default is several liability by percentage of fault, with solidary liability reserved for narrow situations—and the civilian term is in solido, not "joint and several."
D. Other Tort Distinctions
LA Rule: Louisiana caps damages against the State and its political subdivisions and in medical-malpractice actions (the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act caps total recovery against a qualified health-care provider at $500,000 plus future medical care, with a medical-review-panel prerequisite). Louisiana's dram shop approach (La. R.S. 9:2800.1) generally declares that the consumption, not the sale or service, of alcohol is the proximate cause of injury, sharply limiting vendor and social-host liability. National: dram-shop and cap rules vary. Louisiana: the $500,000 malpractice cap with a review-panel prerequisite, governmental caps, and the anti-dram-shop statute are signature features.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: Open every Louisiana tort essay with article 2315 and the duty-risk analysis, then apply pure comparative fault, then assign several liability by percentage (use "in solido" only where the statute allows). For medical-malpractice fact patterns, flag the medical-review-panel prerequisite and the $500,000 cap.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: The tort headline trio is article 2315 delictual liability + duty-risk, pure comparative fault, and several (not solidary) liability by default. Add the $500,000 medical-malpractice cap (with review panel) and the consumption-as-proximate-cause dram-shop limit.
X. BUSINESS ENTITIES AND COMMERCIAL LAW
LA Rule: Louisiana has enacted the Uniform Commercial Code (La. R.S. Title 10) and modern business-entity statutes, including the Louisiana Business Corporation Act and the Louisiana Limited Liability Company Law. For commercial-paper, secured-transactions, and sales-of-goods questions, Louisiana applies the UCC much as other states do—a rare zone of convergence—though Louisiana historically did not adopt UCC Article 2 (Sales): sales are governed instead by the Civil Code's law of Sale (arts. 2438 et seq.), including the warranty against redhibitory defects (the civilian product-defect/warranty doctrine) and lesion. National: UCC Article 2 governs goods sales. Louisiana: Article 2 was not adopted—apply Civil Code Sale, including redhibition, while the rest of the UCC (Articles 1, 3, 4, 9, etc.) applies.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: For a Louisiana sales question, do not reach for UCC Article 2—apply the Civil Code law of Sale and the warranty against redhibitory defects (redhibition), the civilian counterpart to implied-warranty/merchantability claims.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: Remember the split: Louisiana adopted most of the UCC but not Article 2; goods sales run on the Civil Code, where redhibition (not the UCC implied warranty of merchantability) is the key defect remedy.
XI. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
LA Rule: Louisiana has adopted the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct, based on the ABA Model Rules, administered by the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board and the Louisiana Supreme Court. The substance closely tracks the Model Rules, with Louisiana-specific trust-accounting (IOLTA), advertising (Louisiana has historically detailed lawyer-advertising rules), and disciplinary provisions. National: the ABA Model Rules. Louisiana: assume the Model Rule answer on common PR issues; consult the Louisiana rules for the detailed advertising and trust-accounting requirements that Louisiana enforces strictly.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: Analyze PR issues under the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct, which mirror the Model Rules; note Louisiana's stringent lawyer-advertising regime if the facts involve solicitation or advertising.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: Louisiana's lawyer-advertising rules are unusually detailed and strictly enforced—worth knowing for both the exam and practice.
XII. CRIMINAL LAW NOTES
LA Rule: Louisiana criminal law is codified in the Louisiana Criminal Code (La. R.S. 14:1 et seq.) and the Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure, with several historic peculiarities. Notably, Louisiana long permitted non-unanimous felony jury verdicts—a practice the U.S. Supreme Court held unconstitutional in Ramos v. Louisiana (2020), so unanimity is now required. Louisiana's homicide and theft definitions are codified and sometimes differ from common-law/MPC formulations, and Louisiana uses civilian terminology and procedures (e.g., the bill of information, the institution of prosecution). National: the MBE tests common-law/MPC offenses. Louisiana: apply the Louisiana Criminal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure; remember that non-unanimous verdicts are no longer permitted after Ramos.
ESSAY WRITING TIP: On Louisiana criminal questions, apply the Louisiana Criminal Code definitions and the Code of Criminal Procedure; flag Ramos v. Louisiana if a jury-unanimity issue appears.
LOUISIANA BAR TIP: Louisiana's criminal law is statutory and uses distinctive procedure; the post-Ramos unanimity requirement is the most testable recent development.
XIII. ADDITIONAL CODE TOPICS
Suretyship & Mandate. Suretyship (La. C.C. arts. 3035 et seq.) is an accessory contract by which the surety binds himself to fulfill the obligation of the principal obligor upon default; it must be express and in writing (art. 3038), in ordinary, commercial, or legal/judicial form. Mandate (arts. 2989 et seq.) is the civilian analogue to agency, by which the mandatary transacts the affairs of the principal/mandator as a prudent administrator. National: common-law surety and agency; Louisiana: apply the Code articles, noting the writing requirement for suretyship.
Redhibition (warranty against redhibitory defects). In a Louisiana sale the seller warrants against redhibitory defects (arts. 2520 et seq.): a defect is redhibitory when it renders the thing useless, or its use so inconvenient that the buyer would not have bought it, allowing rescission; a defect that merely diminishes value yields a reduction of the price (quanti minoris). A good-faith seller must repair or restore the price; a bad-faith seller or manufacturer also owes damages and attorney fees (art. 2545). National: UCC implied warranty of merchantability; Louisiana: redhibition controls because Louisiana did not adopt UCC Article 2.
XIV. LOUISIANA DISTINCTIONS CHECKLIST
- Louisiana is a CIVIL-LAW jurisdiction; it does NOT use the UBE, MBE, MEE, or MPT, and out-of-state UBE scores are not transferable. The exam tests the Louisiana Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, and Code of Evidence.
- The Civil Code is the primary source of law; no binding stare decisis—settled case lines form persuasive jurisprudence constante.
- Obligations, not Contracts: contracts require cause (not consideration), so gratuitous promises are enforceable; four requisites—capacity, consent, object, cause; vices of consent (error/fraud/duress); absolute vs. relative nullity; lesion beyond moiety on immovable sales; strong availability of specific performance; stipulation pour autrui.
- Prescription, not statutes of limitations: delictual (tort) 1 year (2 years for claims on/after July 1, 2024); personal/contractual 10 years; rent/open accounts 3 years; interruption, suspension, contra non valentem; peremption destroys the right and cannot be interrupted.
- Civil-law property: movables/immovables; usufruct/naked ownership (not life estate/remainder); predial servitudes (not easements), extinguished by 10-year nonuse; acquisitive prescription 10 years (good faith + just title) or 30 years; co-ownership with no default survivorship.
- Community property (legal regime of acquets and gains): community presumption (art. 2340); fruits of separate property are community by default; concurrence required to alienate community immovables (art. 2347); reimbursement (arts. 2364–2368) for enhancements; matrimonial agreements by authentic act.
- Family law: optional covenant marriage; no-fault divorce after 180 days (no minor children) or 365 days (minor children) living separate and apart; final spousal support requires freedom from fault, capped at 1/3 net income; civilian filiation rules.
- Successions: forced heirship/legitime (descendants 23-or-younger or incapacitated; 1/4 for one, 1/2 for two-plus); surviving-spouse usufruct over the community; descendants-first intestacy for separate property; olographic (whole-handwriting) and notarial testaments; trusts governed by the Louisiana Trust Code (common-law trust doctrine does not apply).
- Code of Civil Procedure: petition (not complaint); declinatory/dilatory/peremptory exceptions; the no cause of action vs. no right of action distinction; fact pleading; appellate manifest-error review of facts.
- Torts: article 2315 delictual liability + duty-risk; PURE comparative fault (art. 2323); several (not in solido) liability by default; $500,000 medical-malpractice cap with review-panel prerequisite; consumption-as-proximate-cause dram-shop limit (R.S. 9:2800.1).
- Commercial: UCC adopted EXCEPT Article 2 (Sales)—goods sales run on the Civil Code law of Sale and redhibition.
- Professional Responsibility tracks the ABA Model Rules with stringent Louisiana advertising rules; criminal law is codified, and non-unanimous felony verdicts are unconstitutional after Ramos (2020).