Service of citation or other process on a partnership is made by personal service on a partner. Service of citation or other process on a partnership in commendam is made by personal service on a general partner. When the officer certifies that he is unable, after diligent effort, to make service in this manner, he may make personal service on any employee of suitable age and discretion at any place where the business of the partnership or partnership in commendam is regularly conducted.
Art. 1263.Partnership
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title II. Citation and Service of Process · Chapter 3. Service On Legal and Quasi Legal Persons · Enacted 2001 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1263 requires service on a partnership through personal service on a partner, service on a partnership in commendam through personal service on a general partner, and, when that can't be accomplished after diligent effort, allows personal service on any employee of suitable age and discretion where the business is regularly conducted.
Full Text of Art. 1263
Amendment History
Acts 2001, No. 512, §1.
Plain-English Summary
Louisiana partnerships, including the specialized partnership in commendam (its version of a limited partnership), get served through the people who run them. An ordinary partnership is served by personal service on any partner. A partnership in commendam — where some partners have limited liability and limited management roles — must be served through a general partner specifically, since general partners are the ones who manage the entity.
When a diligent effort to reach a partner or general partner fails, Article 1263 provides a fallback similar to the corporate rule: personal service on any employee of suitable age and discretion, found at a place where the partnership's business is regularly conducted. That keeps a partnership from being effectively unreachable just because its partners are hard to locate.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is an ordinary partnership served in Louisiana?
By personal service on any partner in the partnership.
How is a partnership in commendam served?
By personal service on a general partner specifically, not on a limited partner, since general partners manage the entity.
What if a partner or general partner can't be found?
After a diligent but unsuccessful effort, the officer may personally serve any employee of suitable age and discretion at a place where the partnership's business is regularly conducted.
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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