Art. 617.Unincorporated Association; Definition; Applicability

Articles 611 through 616 repeatedly use the phrase unincorporated association alongside corporation, and Article 617 pins down what that phrase covers: any unincorporated business association that the substantive law governing it treats as a separate juridical person. A juridical person, in Louisiana law, is an entity the law recognizes as having its own legal existence, apart from the individuals who own or belong to it — capable of holding rights and owing obligations in its own name, distinct from a natural person.

This definition is what lets Articles 611 through 616 reach entities like partnerships and limited liability companies, which are not corporations but are recognized under Louisiana's substantive law as their own juridical persons, separate from their partners or members. Without a right belonging to the entity itself, there would be nothing for a derivative action to enforce.