Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Louisiana

If you are involved in litigation, it is always a good idea to hire a lawyer. While you have a right to represent yourself in any court in the nation, the rules of procedure are so complex that it is very difficult to do without an attorney. There are a lot of pitfalls that you will encounter that can ruin your case if you don't know what you are doing.

That being said, you usually can represent yourself adequately in small claims courts, like a justice of the peace court. Those courts are limited in the amounts you can recover. In Louisiana, the limits are $3,000 for City Courts and $5,000 for Justice of the Peace Courts.

You will usually want to hire a lawyer where the case is, not where you live. The attorney you use must be admitted to practice in the jurisdiction where the suit is pending, or he must have local counsel to co-sign his pleadings there.

To find a lawyer in another state, look on this site first. If you don't find one here, you can contact the bar association in that state or talk to a lawyer here that you trust to give you a referral.