Anti-SLAPP Laws in Louisiana

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Louisiana's anti-SLAPP scheme lives in a single article, Code of Civil Procedure art. 971, enacted in 1999 (Acts 1999, No. 734). The legislature amended it in 2004 to make the fee-shifting award mandatory rather than discretionary, and again in 2012 for smaller adjustments; the article's own history line shows no substantive change since 2012.

What speech or conduct is protected

The article defines protected activity in four categories, closely tracking California's model: (1) statements made before a legislative, executive, or judicial proceeding, or any other official proceeding authorized by law; (2) statements made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by such a body; (3) statements made in a place open to the public or a public forum in connection with an issue of public interest; and (4) any other conduct in furtherance of the right of petition or free speech connected to a public issue or an issue of public interest. Louisiana's courts have read this broadly — a 2025 appellate decision held that photographing a public official in a public place, a purely non-verbal act, qualified as protected activity under the fourth, catch-all category.

The special motion to strike

File the special motion within 90 days of being served with the petition — longer than California's 60-day window — though a court can allow a later filing "upon terms the court deems proper." The hearing must be noticed for no more than 30 days after the motion is served, unless the court's own docket conditions require a later date. Filing the motion automatically stays all discovery in the case until the court's ruling is entered, though a judge can still allow specific, limited discovery for good cause shown. If a plaintiff tries to sidestep the motion by voluntarily dismissing the case before the delay for filing an answer runs, the defendant keeps the right to file the special motion anyway.

Burden of proof

Louisiana uses the same two-step test as California. First, the defendant must show the challenged claim "arises from" an act in furtherance of petition or free-speech rights on a public issue. Second, if the defendant clears that bar, the plaintiff must show "a probability of success on the claim," based on the pleadings and any supporting or opposing affidavits. Louisiana courts — and the Fifth Circuit, applying Louisiana law — treat this as comparable to the standard for surviving summary judgment: the plaintiff must come forward with admissible evidence on each essential element, and a court that instead weighs conflicting evidence for credibility, as if holding a mini-trial, is applying the wrong standard.

Attorney's fees

Article 971(B) says "a prevailing party on a special motion to strike shall be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs" — mandatory language that, notably, isn't written to run only in the defendant's favor the way most other states' anti-SLAPP fee rules are. In practice this has meant a successful defendant-movant recovers fees from the plaintiff, but the article's text doesn't build in the asymmetric "frivolous motion" fee-shift back to the plaintiff that states like California use — there's no separate mechanism here for a plaintiff to recover fees just because a losing special motion was frivolous or filed to delay.

Right to appeal

Louisiana's statute gives no special interlocutory appeal right at all — a real gap compared to most other states' anti-SLAPP laws. If the trial court GRANTS the special motion, that judgment ends the claim and is a final, appealable judgment under ordinary Louisiana appellate rules. But if the trial court DENIES the motion, that ruling is ordinarily interlocutory; a losing defendant can't appeal it as of right and instead has to seek a discretionary supervisory writ from the court of appeal, or ask the trial court to certify the ruling as an immediately appealable partial judgment.

Exemptions

Article 971 has one exemption: it does not apply to an enforcement action brought on behalf of the State of Louisiana by the attorney general, a district attorney, or a city attorney acting as a public prosecutor. There is no separate commercial-speech or public-interest-lawsuit exemption like California's.

What trips people up

Denial isn't immediately appealable — plan for a supervisory writ instead. Unlike states with an express interlocutory appeal right, a losing Louisiana defendant has to seek a discretionary writ application, which the court of appeal can simply decline to take up. This is the single biggest procedural weakness reviewers point to in Louisiana's otherwise strong statute.

The fee award to a winning defendant is itself a separate, later ruling that isn't appealable on its own. A Louisiana appellate court has held that when a trial court denies the special motion but later sets a separate attorney's-fee amount, that fee ruling is interlocutory and not independently appealable — the better practice is for the fee award to be folded into the final judgment at the end of the case.

"Free speech" under art. 971 reaches further than literal speech. Louisiana courts have applied the statute to non-verbal expressive conduct — including simply taking photographs of a public figure in public — so don't assume the motion is limited to written or spoken statements.

Common questions

Does the special motion to strike stop the whole case, or just discovery? Filing it automatically stays discovery. The underlying claim stays on the docket until the court rules on the motion.

Can I use this if I'm sued over a critical online review I wrote? Possibly. Article 971(F)(1)(c), the third category, covers a statement made in a public forum in connection with an issue of public interest. Paragraph (d) separately covers other conduct furthering petition or free-speech rights in connection with a public issue or an issue of public interest. Whether a particular review fits depends on its context.

If I lose the special motion, do I owe the plaintiff's attorney's fees? Article 971(B) directs the court to award reasonable attorney fees and costs to "a prevailing party" on the special motion. The statute uses that prevailing-party standard to determine who receives the award.

Statutes and sources

• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 971(A) — "A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or Louisiana Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established a probability of success on the claim." Source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112314 (accessed 2026-08-20).
• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 971(F)(1) — definition covering statements in or about official proceedings, public-forum statements on issues of public interest, and other petition or speech conduct connected to a public issue. Source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112314 (accessed 2026-10-10).
• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 971(C)-(D) — "The special motion may be filed within ninety days of service of the petition, or in the court's discretion, at any later time upon terms the court deems proper... All discovery proceedings in the action shall be stayed upon the filing of a notice of motion made pursuant to this Article." Source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112314 (accessed 2026-10-10).
• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 971(B) — "In any action subject to Paragraph A of this Article, a prevailing party on a special motion to strike shall be awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs." Source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112314 (accessed 2026-10-10).
• La. Code Civ. Proc. art. 971(E) — "This Article shall not apply to any enforcement action brought on behalf of the state of Louisiana by the attorney general, district attorney, or city attorney acting as a public prosecutor." Source: https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=112314 (accessed 2026-10-10).