When one person is the legal representative of several persons made defendant in the same cause, only one citation need be addressed to such representative.
Art. 1203.Citation to Legal Representative of Multiple Defendants
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title II. Citation and Service of Process · Chapter 1. Citation · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1203 permits a single citation addressed to one legal representative when that representative stands for several persons who are all defendants in the same lawsuit.
Full Text of Art. 1203
Plain-English Summary
Some lawsuits name multiple defendants who share a single legal representative — several minor children under one tutor, for instance, or a group of interdicts under one curator. Article 1203 saves the clerk from issuing a separate citation for each represented defendant in that situation. One citation addressed to the shared representative covers all of them.
The rule is narrow. It applies only when one person represents several defendants in the same capacity for the same case, not when multiple defendants merely share a lawyer or happen to have related interests. Where each defendant has a distinct legal representative, or no representative at all, Article 1203 doesn't apply, and each still needs to be cited and served under the ordinary rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can one citation cover multiple defendants?
When a single person is the legal representative of several defendants in the same case, one citation addressed to that representative is enough for all of them.
Does this rule apply when defendants just share the same lawyer?
No. Article 1203 applies to a legal representative who stands for multiple defendants, such as a tutor or curator, not to defendants who happen to be represented by the same attorney.
How does this citation get served if it covers multiple defendants?
It's served on the representative under the ordinary service rules, such as personal or domiciliary service, the same as any other citation addressed to that individual.
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
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