HLS 25RS-466 ORIGINAL
2025 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 431
BY REPRESENTATIVES CHENEVERT, BERAULT, CARVER, DOMANGUE, EGAN,
GALLE, HENRY, AND MELERINE
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
LIABILITY/TORTS: Provides relative to modified comparative fault
1 AN ACT
2To amend and reenact Civil Code Article 2323(A), relative to comparative fault; to establish
3 a modified compared fault system; to provide for the recovery of damages; to
4 provide for an effective date; and to provide for related matters.
5Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. Civil Code Article 2323(A) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as
7follows:
8 Art. 2323. Comparative fault
9 A.(1) In any action for damages where a person suffers injury, death, or loss,
10 the degree or percentage of fault of attributable to all persons causing or contributing
11 to the injury, death, or loss shall be determined, regardless of whether the person is
12 a party to the action or a nonparty, and regardless of the person's insolvency, ability
13 to pay, immunity by statute, including but not limited to the provisions of R.S.
14 23:1032, or that the other person's identity is not known or reasonably ascertainable.
15 If a person suffers injury, death, or loss as the result partly of his own negligence and
16 partly as a result of the fault of another person or persons, the amount of damages
17 recoverable shall be reduced in proportion to the degree or percentage of negligence
18 attributable to the person suffering the injury, death, or loss.
19 (2) If the fault attributable to the claimant is less than fifty percent, the
20 claimant is entitled to recover damages from each person against whom damages
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HLS 25RS-466 ORIGINAL
HB NO. 431
1 were sought. The amount recoverable from a person pursuant to this Subparagraph
2 shall be in proportion to the fault attributable to that person.
3 (3) If the fault attributable to the claimant is greater than or equal to fifty
4 percent, the claimant shall not be entitled to recover damages.
5 * * *
6 Section 2. This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2026.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 431 Original 2025 Regular Session Chenevert
Abstract: Changes the pure comparative fault system to a modified comparative fault
system with a 50% bar to recovery.
Present law provides that if a person suffers injury, death, or loss as the result partly of his
own negligence and partly as a result of the fault of another person or persons, the amount
of damages the plaintiff can recover shall be reduced in proportion to the degree or
percentage of negligence attributable to the person suffering the injury, death, or loss.
Proposed law changes present law by barring a plaintiff's recovery for damages if the
plaintiff is found 50% or more at fault in causing his own damages.
Effective January 1, 2026.
(Amends C.C. Art. 2323(A))
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.