Article by Frank L. Maraist and Thomas C. Galligan, Jr.
In the First Extraordinary Session of 1996, the Louisiana Legislature extensively revised Louisiana tort law. Governor Foster subsequently signed all the relevant legislation. The 1996 changes are the most significant legislative changes to Louisiana tort law in the state's history. Among the most significant changes were: (1) limiting strict liability under Civil Code Articles 2317, 2321 (except in cases involving dogs), and 2322; (2) redefining “ultrahazardous activities” to include only piledriving and blasting with explosives; (3) eliminating the availability of punitive damages in cases involving the storage, handling, or transportation of toxic and hazardous substances; (4) revising the substance and procedure of Louisiana's comparative fault regime to require the allocation of fault to nonparties, including employers; and (5) effectively abolishing solidarity (joint and several liability) in nonintentional and nonvicarious-liability tort cases. In this Article, Professors Maraist and Galligan consider Louisiana's new tort laws, the extensive changes wrought by the 1996 legislation, and the probable effects of that legislation. Professors Maraist and Galligan discuss the interment of pre-1996 Louisiana tort law, and neither praise nor condemn it.
About the Author
Frank L. Maraist. Nolan J. Edwards Professor of Law, Louisiana State University Law Center; B.A. 1951, University of Southwestern Louisiana; J.D. 1958, Louisiana State University; LL.M. 1969, Yale University.
Thomas C. Galligan, Jr. Professor of Law, Louisiana State University Law Center; A.B. 1977, Stanford University; J.D. 1981, University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law.
Citation
71 Tul. L. Rev. 339 (1996)