When a new trial is granted, it shall be assigned for hearing in accordance with the rules and practice of the court.
Art. 1977.Assignment of New Trial
Book II. Ordinary Proceedings · Title VI. Judgments · Chapter 4. Modification In Trial Court · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 1977 provides that once a new trial is granted, it is assigned for hearing according to the rules and practice of the court where the case is pending.
Full Text of Art. 1977
Plain-English Summary
Article 1977 is a short bridge provision. Once a court grants a new trial, whether under the mandatory grounds in Article 1972, the discretionary ground in Article 1973, or the court's own motion under Article 1971, someone has to schedule it. This article hands that scheduling function to the local rules and practice of the court itself, rather than dictating a uniform statewide procedure for setting a new trial date.
That approach makes sense given how differently courts across Louisiana manage their dockets. A district court in a busy urban parish and one in a rural parish may have different calendaring practices, and Article 1977 leaves each court free to assign the new trial for hearing consistent with how it already manages its docket.
For litigants, the practical takeaway is that after an order granting a new trial issues, the next step is to look to that particular court's own scheduling procedures and practice, not to a separate statewide rule, to find out when the new trial will be heard.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who decides when a new trial gets heard in Louisiana?
The court itself, following its own rules and practice for assigning cases to hearing, as Article 1977 directs, rather than a single statewide scheduling rule.
Does Article 1977 set its own deadline for scheduling the new trial?
No. It defers entirely to the assigning court's own rules and practice rather than fixing a specific timetable in the Code itself.
Does this article apply differently depending on which court granted the new trial?
Yes, in the sense that each court's own practice controls scheduling, so the process can look different from one court to another even though the underlying right to a new trial is the same statewide.
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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