Sexual Assault Attorneys in Louisiana: Your Complete Legal Guide

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Louisiana has a general revival window open in October 2026: any survivor whose claim for sexual abuse as a minor had prescribed under Louisiana law may file on or before June 14, 2027. Claims for sexual abuse of a minor do not prescribe at all going forward, and an adult survivor has three years against the person who committed the assault. Below are those rules, the procedural steps that come with them, the criminal deadlines, and three firms that represent survivors in Louisiana.

Call 911 in an emergency. The Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault runs a 24/7 statewide helpline in English and Spanish at 888-995-7273.

The Civil Code articles below were read on the Louisiana Legislature’s website in October 2026, and the other provisions come from the sources at the end of the page. The page is an overview of Louisiana law and is not a review of any particular case.

Abuse as a Minor: The Action “Does Not Prescribe”

La. R.S. 9:2800.9(A)(1) provides: “An action against a person for sexual abuse of a minor or for physical abuse of a minor resulting in permanent impairment or permanent physical injury or scarring does not prescribe.” “Abuse” takes its meaning from Children’s Code Article 603. A second paragraph, § 2800.9(A)(2), adds that “An action against a person convicted of a crime against the child does not prescribe and may be filed at any time following conviction.”

CHILD USA reads the rule as having no age cap, no date threshold, and no need for a discovery argument.

The revival window: on or before June 14, 2027

For claims that had already prescribed, Louisiana’s session laws reopen the courthouse door. CHILD USA quotes the provision as amended by Acts 2024, No. 481: “Any person whose cause of action related to sexual abuse of a minor was barred by liberative prescription shall be permitted to file an action under R.S. 9:2800.9 on or before June 14, 2027. It is the express intent of the legislature to revive until June 14, 2027, any cause of action related to sexual abuse of a minor that previously prescribed under any Louisiana prescriptive period.”

The window opened June 14, 2021, was due to close June 14, 2024, and was extended to June 14, 2027 by an act that took effect on the day the old window would have closed. Its validity was litigated. In March 2024, the Louisiana Supreme Court held the revival unconstitutional in Bienvenu v. Defendant 1, 382 So. 3d 38; on rehearing on June 12, 2024, it vacated that decree and upheld the revival, Bienvenu v. Defendant 1, 386 So. 3d 280. The window is not limited to one defendant or one bankruptcy.

Certificates of merit and the unnamed defendant

Louisiana pairs the open deadline with a screening step. Under § 2800.9(B), as CHILD USA summarizes it, a plaintiff who is 21 or older when filing must file certificates executed by the attorney and by a licensed mental health practitioner, one set for each defendant (§ 2800.9(C)). Under § 2800.9(D), the petition “may not name the defendant or defendants until the court has reviewed the certificates of merit filed and has determined, in camera, based solely on those certificates of merit, that there is reasonable and meritorious cause for filing of the action.” If the consultation cannot be obtained before a deadline would run, § 2800.9(B)(3) allows the attorney to certify that and file the certificates within 60 days.

Adult Survivors: Three Years Against the Assailant

Civil Code article 3496.2 reads: “A delictual action against a person for any act of sexual assault, as defined in R.S. 46:2184, is subject to a liberative prescription of three years. This prescription commences to run from the day the injury or damage is sustained or the day the victim is notified of the identity of the offender by law enforcement or a judicial agency, whichever is later.”

The second sentence matters when the assailant was a stranger: if police or a court later identify the offender, the three years can start on the day the survivor is told who it was.

Claims against others, such as a hotel, employer, or property owner whose negligence is alleged to have allowed the assault, are delictual actions under the general rule. Civil Code article 3493.1, enacted by Acts 2024, No. 423, effective July 1, 2024, provides: “Delictual actions are subject to a liberative prescription of two years. This prescription commences to run from the day that injury or damage is sustained.” Whether that article or an earlier rule governs an injury from before July 1, 2024 depends on the act’s transition provisions, which a lawyer should confirm.

Churches, Schools, and Defendants in Bankruptcy

Section 2800.9 speaks of “an action against a person,” and the revival covers “any cause of action related to sexual abuse of a minor.” Whether those words reach a particular church, school, or employer, and whether that organization is liable, depends on what it knew and how it acted.

Where a defendant is in a bankruptcy case, as the firm profiles below describe for the Archdiocese of New Orleans, claims against it can be channeled through that case. Anyone with such a claim needs a lawyer who can explain both the bankruptcy process and the state-court deadlines.

Criminal Prosecution Deadlines

Prosecution is the state’s decision. CHILD USA quotes La. Code Crim. Proc. art. 571: “There is no time limitation upon the institution of prosecution for any crime for which the punishment may be death or life imprisonment or for the crime of forcible or second-degree rape (R.S. 14:42.1) or molestation of a juvenile or a person with a physical or mental disability (R.S. 14:81.2).”

For other sex offenses against a child, article 571.1 sets 30 years beginning “when the victim attains the age of eighteen,” which ends on the victim’s 48th birthday. Article 572(A) sets the residual periods: six years for a felony necessarily punishable at hard labor, four years for other felonies, two years for a misdemeanor punishable by fine or imprisonment or both, and six months for a misdemeanor punishable only by a fine or forfeiture. Under article 572(B), a sex offense may be prosecuted beyond those limits within three years after the offender is identified through a DNA profile or newly discovered photographic or video evidence. Article 572 was amended again in 2026, so the version in force on the date of the offense is a point to confirm.

Matters to Sort Out With a Louisiana Lawyer

The first conversation can be short if you bring your date of birth, the dates of the abuse or assault, whether anyone has been convicted, and, for an adult assault, when law enforcement told you the offender’s identity. These questions follow:

  1. For childhood abuse, does § 2800.9(A) apply directly, or does the claim need the revival window before June 14, 2027?
  2. Who will serve as the mental health practitioner for the certificate of merit, and how long will the in-camera review take?
  3. For an adult assault, does the three-year period in article 3496.2 run from the assault or from notice of the offender’s identity?
  4. Is a separate negligence claim against a business or employer subject to article 3493.1’s two years, and when did it start?
  5. Does the claim involve the Archdiocese of New Orleans or another entity in bankruptcy?
  6. Does the firm represent any likely defendant or its insurer in other matters, and what does the fee agreement say about costs?

Louisiana Sexual Assault Attorneys

Lamothe Law Firm, LLC

Lamothe Law Firm is one of Louisiana’s most prominent plaintiff firms for sexual assault and child sex abuse litigation. The firm is led by Frank E. Lamothe III, a trial attorney with over 50 years of courtroom experience. Frank Lamothe has been involved in Louisiana sexual abuse litigation since the early 2000s, when he began representing dozens of survivors abused by clergy at the Madonna Manor and Hope Haven Catholic institutions in Marrero, Louisiana. Those cases culminated in a settlement with the Archdiocese of New Orleans exceeding $5 million. Since then, no other attorney in Louisiana has resolved more individual claims against the Archdiocese than Lamothe.

Frank Lamothe has been inducted into the 2023 Lawdragon Hall of Fame, limited to 45 lawyers nationally. He has been named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers list and was ranked by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers as a Metropolitan First Tier lawyer in New Orleans for Personal Injury Litigation — Plaintiff. He authored the treatise “Sex Abuse in Louisiana” and has taught Trial Advocacy at the Tulane University School of Law, Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center, and Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. He created the Lamothe Charitable Fund, dedicated primarily to abused children’s causes. He is also a past president of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Julien Lamothe joined the firm in 2018. His primary practice areas include civil rights, sexual assault and abuse, and prisoner suicide and assault litigation, in addition to personal injury matters.

The firm has recovered over $100 million for clients across its practice. It works on a contingency fee basis and offers free, confidential consultations. The firm handles child sexual abuse, clergy abuse, sports coach abuse, sex trafficking, elderly sexual assault, and prisoner sexual assault cases throughout Louisiana and Colorado.

Herman, Katz, Gisleson & Cain, LLC (HKGC)

Herman, Katz, Gisleson & Cain is one of Louisiana’s oldest and most accomplished plaintiff law firms, founded in 1942 by brothers David and Harry Herman — Harry Herman was a founder of what is now the American Association for Justice. Now in its fourth generation of practice, HKGC has secured more than $35 billion for clients since its founding, including a $9 billion estimated recovery in the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill MDL and an $85 million verdict after an industrial accident.

On sex abuse specifically, HKGC represents more survivors of the New Orleans Archdiocese clergy abuse case than any other firm. The firm actively litigated the constitutionality and application of Louisiana’s 2021 Child Victims Act and its lookback window, and its attorneys have been quoted in major media on the ongoing Archdiocese bankruptcy proceedings, including the $230 million settlement reached in 2025. Partner Soren E. Gisleson, who earned his B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder (1993) and his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law (1999, Law Review), has been lead counsel in several high-profile clergy abuse and institutional sex abuse cases.

The firm handles a broad range of sex abuse matters including child sexual abuse, clergy and priest abuse, nursing home and healthcare abuse, sex trafficking, sex abuse on college campuses, and youth organization and sports abuse. HKGC operates on a contingency fee basis — no recovery, no fee — and offers free consultations. The firm serves clients across Louisiana from offices in New Orleans and Natchitoches, and represents clients nationally in cases where Louisiana law is at issue.

Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer, L.L.C.

Gainsburgh, Benjamin, David, Meunier & Warshauer is a New Orleans plaintiff firm with more than seven decades of experience representing injury victims in Louisiana and Mississippi. The firm has a dedicated sexual abuse practice and has assisted survivors of sexual abuse in civil litigation throughout both states, approaching these cases with the sensitivity, care, and thoroughness that complex abuse claims require.

The firm brings an advantage gained from decades of experience with personal injury, medical malpractice, and mass tort cases: an understanding of institutional liability, complex damages evaluation, and how to confront well-funded institutional defendants. The firm handles cases involving abuse by individuals in positions of authority — clergy, medical providers, teachers, coaches, and others — as well as institutional negligence claims against the organizations that employed or enabled them. Gainsburgh Benjamin offers free consultations and takes cases on a contingency fee basis.

Frequently Asked Questions

I was abused as a child in the 1980s. Can I still file in Louisiana?

Yes, if you file on or before June 14, 2027. The revival provision reopens any cause of action related to sexual abuse of a minor that had prescribed under any Louisiana prescriptive period, and the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld it in June 2024.

Will the defendant’s name appear in the lawsuit right away?

No. Under § 2800.9(D), the petition may not name a defendant until the court reviews the certificates of merit in camera and finds reasonable and meritorious cause.

I was assaulted as an adult and the attacker was identified two years later. When does my deadline start?

Article 3496.2 starts the three-year period on the later of the day of the injury or the day law enforcement or a judicial agency notifies you of the offender’s identity.

Is the adult deadline still one year?

Not for a claim against the assailant, which article 3496.2 sets at three years. General delictual actions are two years under article 3493.1 for injuries on or after its July 1, 2024 effective date.

Support and Reporting Lines

  • Emergency: 911
  • Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, 24/7 helpline (English and Español): 888-995-7273
  • Louisiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 24/7 hotline: 1-888-411-1333
  • National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

This page is general information; the Louisiana rules described above changed in 2021 and 2024, and a licensed Louisiana attorney can apply them to specific facts.

Sources