Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, wherever the words "plaintiff" and "defendant" are used in this Code, they respectively include a plaintiff and a defendant in an incidental demand.
Art. 1040.Words "Plaintiff" and "Defendant" Include Plaintiff and Defendant In an Incidental Action
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title I. Pleading · Chapter 6. Incidental Actions · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1040 clarifies that, unless context indicates otherwise, every reference to plaintiff and defendant elsewhere in the Code also reaches the plaintiff and defendant in an incidental action.
Full Text of Art. 1040
Plain-English Summary
Reading the Code's many articles on pleadings, exceptions, and procedure would get complicated if every one of them had to separately spell out that it also applies to reconventional demands, cross-claims, interventions, and third-party demands. Article 1040 solves that with one interpretive rule: wherever the words plaintiff and defendant appear elsewhere in the Code, they include the plaintiff and defendant in an incidental action too.
That means a defendant in reconvention (the original plaintiff, now on the receiving end of a reconventional demand) counts as a defendant for purposes of articles written with the principal action in mind. A plaintiff in a third-party demand (the original defendant, now suing the third party) counts as a plaintiff. The rule has one built-in limit: context can override it when it clearly points the other way, so this shorthand doesn't force an odd reading onto a provision that plainly means only the original parties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a defendant in a reconventional demand count as a defendant under other Code articles?
Yes. Article 1040 extends the words plaintiff and defendant throughout the Code to reach the corresponding parties in an incidental action, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
Why does the Code need a rule like Article 1040?
Without it, every article touching pleadings or procedure would need its own separate statement that it also covers reconventional demands, cross-claims, interventions, and third-party demands. Article 1040 handles that once, for the whole Code.
Can context override Article 1040's default rule?
Yes. The article applies unless the context of a particular provision clearly indicates that plaintiff or defendant was meant to refer only to the parties in the principal action.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (legis.la.gov). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: definition of plaintiff and defendant louisiana codeincidental action party terminologywho counts as defendant in a reconventional demand