The right ingredients for complex litigation in Louisiana.

Keogh Cox is proud to have been named in the 2027 edition of Best Law Firms® as a Tier 1 firm in Baton Rouge in four practice areas: Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation –Defendants, Professional Malpractice Law-Defendants, and Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers.

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Keogh Cox is proud to recognize our ten attorneys who havebeen selected to the 2027 Louisiana Super Lawyers and Rising Stars® lists.

Our seven attorneys named to the 2027 Louisiana SuperLawyers® list are:

• John P. Wolff, III – Civil Litigation: Defense
• Andrew Blanchfield - Professional Liability: Defense
• Kirk L. Landry – Workers’ Compensation
• Collin J. LeBlanc – General Litigation
• Christopher K. Jones – Class Action
• Mary Anne Wolf – Construction Litigation
• Tori S. Bowling – General Litigation

Our three attorneys named to the 2027 Louisiana Rising Stars® list are:

• Sydnee D. Menou –  Insurance Coverage
• Cole C. Frazier –  Personal Injury General: Defense
• Brandi A. Barze – Civil Litigation: Defense

Please help us congratulate these attorneys on their amazing accomplishments!

Under La. C.C.P. art. 561, an action is considered “abandoned” when a party to a lawsuit fails to take a step in the prosecution or defense of a civil matter for three years. The Article also provides abandonment occurs without formal order. The Louisiana Legislature recently amended this statute to codify jurisprudence that developed in response to litigation where parties disputed whether a case had been abandoned. These amendments are discussed below.

Abandonment has always been operative without a court order as long as no step in the prosecution or defense of the action interrupted the three-year abandonment period. However, the Article now confirms the defense may renounce abandonment after the expiration of the three-year term. This can occur if the defendant takes some action after expiration of the abandonment period that “clearly or directly” demonstrates his preference and intent to proceed with the litigation.^ 

When a matter has abandoned, a motion to dismiss now must be filed and accompanied by an affidavit.  The affidavit must show the expiration of the three-year period, no step has been taken in the prosecution or defense of the action in the past three years, and the defendant has not renounced the abandonment.  Accompanying the affidavit must be: a list of all pleadings, documents or judgments filed in the record during the three years preceding the date on which the abandonment period tolled, and a list of all written communications pertaining to the action between the mover and the adverse party or their attorney of record in the year preceding the date the abandonment period tolled. 

The court may set a contradictory hearing on the motion to dismiss if the affidavit identifies a filed document or written communication.  After the hearing or after being satisfied that a hearing is not warranted, the court may order the dismissal.  Regardless of whether a hearing is ordered or not, the court is called upon to make an equitable determination of whether the matter is abandoned or not.

If a motion to set aside a dismissal based on abandonment is advanced, then the burden of proof remains on the party claiming abandonment in the initial motion to dismiss to make the showing the case was abandoned. If the dismissal is set aside or reversed on appeal, it constitutes a step in the prosecution or defense of the matter. 

The amendments to Article 561 apply to motions to dismiss based upon abandonment filed on or after August 1, 2026.  Whether these amendments will alleviate litigation of enforcing the abandonment of an action remains to be seen. 

References:

La. Code of Civil Procedure art. 561 

Found. Elevation & Repair, LLC v. Miller,2024-00810 (La. 5/9/25), 408 So. 3d 893