Slipped in a Louisiana Store? Now Prove How Long the Puddle Was There.

Before we start: this is commentary and opinion, not legal advice. Reading it doesn’t make me your lawyer. Neither does forwarding it to the cousin who “definitely has a case.” Every case turns on its own facts. Attorney advertising.

Black Friday is November 27. It’s the first holiday shopping season under Louisiana’s new 51% fault rule, and most shoppers have no idea it changed. The stores’ insurance companies do.

The puddle needs a birthday.

Fall in a store, restaurant, or hotel lobby in Louisiana and a special statute takes over (La. R.S. 9:2800.6). You have to prove:

• The floor was dangerous, and the store should have seen it coming.

• The store knew, or should have known, before you fell.

• The store didn’t fix it or warn you.

The second one kills most cases. You, the person who just met the floor, have to show how long the spill was there. Not the store with the cameras. You.

Since January 1: one point and you’re out.

For 45 years, being partly at fault only shrank your recovery. Act 15 of 2025 rewrote Civil Code article 2323. Now:

• 50% at fault or less: your recovery is cut by your share.

• 51% or more: you get nothing. The jury is told that’s what it means.

You were on your phone. You wore flip-flops. The spill was “obvious.” Every one of those used to shave a little off. Now, at 51, it’s the whole case.

If the floor wins, do this.

• See a doctor. Even if you feel fine. Adrenaline lies.

• Ask for the incident report. No copy? Get the manager’s name.

• Photograph the floor before the mop. Size, footprints, cart tracks, dried edges. That’s the puddle’s birthday.

• Photograph the wet-floor sign, or the spot where one should have been.

• Get witness names. Especially the one who says “that’s been there all morning.”

• Ask in writing for the video to be saved.

• Keep your shoes. Don’t wash them.

• No recorded statement to the insurer before you talk to a lawyer. Under the 51% rule, “I wasn’t really looking” is an expensive sentence.

• Two years to file for falls since July 1, 2024 (La. C.C. art. 3493.1).

My take.

Sometimes you trip over your own feet. I did it on a golf course in front of three witnesses, and they still bring it up.

But the store owns the floor, the mop, the cameras, and the sweep logs. You have a sore hip and a phone at 4%. The law makes you the timekeeper, and the legislature just added a cliff.

So look down. Wear real shoes. And if you go down anyway, take pictures before the mop gets there.

They’ll say you should’ve watched your step. They say no. We say oui.

Hurt in a fall anywhere in Louisiana? Call (504) 684-4444. Free consultation, you talk to the attorney, no fee unless we win. Se habla español.

Attorney advertising. This post is legal information, commentary, and opinion, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Statutory and case references reflect Louisiana law as of the date of publication and may change. “No fee unless we win” refers to attorney’s fees; clients may remain responsible for case costs and expenses. Illustration created with AI; it does not depict actual events. Oliver B. Hadley, responsible attorney. Oliver Hadley Law, LLC, New Orleans, Louisiana.