Terms Used In Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure 42

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
  • Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
  • Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.

The general rules of venue are that an action against:

(1)  An individual who is domiciled in the state shall be brought in the parish of his domicile; or if he resides but is not domiciled in the state, in the parish of his residence.

(2)  A domestic corporation, a domestic insurer, or a domestic limited liability company shall be brought in the parish where its registered office is located.

(3)  A domestic partnership, or a domestic unincorporated association, shall be brought in the parish where its principal business establishment is located.

(4)  A foreign corporation or foreign limited liability company licensed to do business in this state shall be brought in the parish where its principal business establishment is located as designated in its application to do business in the state, or, if no such designation is made, then in the parish where its primary place of business in the state is located.

(5)  A foreign corporation or a foreign limited liability company not licensed to do business in the state, or a nonresident who has not appointed an agent for the service of process in the manner provided by law, other than a foreign or alien insurer, shall be brought in the parish of the plaintiff‘s domicile or in a parish where the process may be, and subsequently is, served on the defendant.

(6)  A nonresident, other than a foreign corporation or a foreign or alien insurer, who has appointed an agent for the service of process in the manner provided by law, shall be brought in the parish of the designated post office address of an agent for the service of process.

(7)  A foreign or alien insurer shall be brought in the parish of East Baton Rouge.

Amended by Acts 1961, No. 23, §1; Acts 1990, No. 487, §1; Acts 1999, No. 145, §2; Acts 2001, No. 23, §1; Acts 2003, No. 545, §1; Acts 2012, No. 126, §1.