A new trial may be granted in any case if there is good ground therefor, except as otherwise provided by law.
Art. 1973.Discretionary Grounds
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title VI. Judgments · Chapter 4. Modification In Trial Court · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1973 gives a Louisiana trial court broad, discretionary authority to grant a new trial for any good ground, beyond the three mandatory grounds Article 1972 lists, except where another law limits that discretion.
Full Text of Art. 1973
Plain-English Summary
Where Article 1972 commands a new trial in three specific situations, Article 1973 hands the trial court a wide, discretionary backstop. The court may grant a new trial in any case if there is good ground for it, without being confined to the peremptory list. This discretionary ground gives a trial judge room to correct a result that troubles the court's own sense of justice even when the case does not fit neatly into one of Article 1972's three categories.
Because this power rests on discretion rather than a fixed rule, appellate courts give a trial judge's decision under Article 1973 considerable deference. The trial judge sat through the case, saw the witnesses, and is often best positioned to sense when something about the verdict or judgment does not hold up, even without a textbook example of newly discovered evidence or jury misconduct.
The article's final clause — except as otherwise provided by law — keeps this discretion from overriding more specific statutes that limit or channel when a new trial is available in particular kinds of cases. Article 1973 is the general rule; a more specific provision elsewhere in Louisiana law can narrow it for a particular proceeding.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a discretionary new trial different from a peremptory one?
A peremptory new trial under Article 1972 is mandatory once a party proves one of three specific grounds. A discretionary new trial under Article 1973 is up to the trial court's judgment, granted whenever the court finds good ground, without being limited to that list.
What counts as good ground for a discretionary new trial?
Article 1973 does not define the phrase further, leaving the trial court to weigh the circumstances of the individual case. It gives the trial judge flexibility to grant relief when justice calls for it, even outside the categories Article 1972 lists.
Can a party appeal a trial court's refusal to grant a discretionary new trial?
A trial court's discretionary decisions under Article 1973 receive significant deference on appeal, since the trial judge is positioned to evaluate the trial firsthand. That deference makes a discretionary denial harder to overturn than a peremptory ground the court was legally required to grant.
Does Article 1973 override more specific rules limiting new trials in certain cases?
No. The article applies except as otherwise provided by law, so a more specific statute governing new trials in a particular type of proceeding controls over this general discretionary grant.
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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