An unincorporated association has the procedural capacity to be sued in its own name. The members of an unincorporated association may be sued jointly on an obligation of the association and the association may be joined as a defendant in such an action.
Art. 738.Unincorporated Association; Members
Title III. Parties · Chapter 3. Parties Defendant · Amendment history unavailable · Last verified July 30, 2026
In one sentenceArticle 738 gives an unincorporated association the capacity to be sued in its own name and allows its members to be sued jointly on an association obligation, with the association itself also permitted as a co-defendant.
Full Text of Art. 738
Plain-English Summary
An unincorporated association — a club, society, or similar group that has not formally incorporated — is not automatically a legal entity capable of suing or being sued under ordinary civil-law principles. Article 738 supplies that capacity by statute, letting an unincorporated association be sued in its own name as though it were a formal legal person.
The article also gives a plaintiff a second path: the members of an unincorporated association can be sued jointly on an obligation of the association, and the association itself may be joined as a defendant in that same action. That flexibility matters because an unincorporated association's own assets may be limited or hard to identify, so a creditor may need recourse against the members who make it up.
Taken together, the two sentences of Article 738 give a plaintiff three practical options for reaching an association's debt: sue the association alone, sue the members jointly, or sue both together in the same case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I sue an unincorporated club or association directly in Louisiana?
Yes. Article 738 gives an unincorporated association the procedural capacity to be sued in its own name, even though it has not formally incorporated.
Can I sue the individual members of an association instead of the association itself?
Yes. Article 738 allows the members of an unincorporated association to be sued jointly on an obligation of the association, and the association may also be joined as a defendant in the same suit.
Why would a plaintiff sue both the association and its members?
Doing so preserves recourse against both the association's own assets and the members' personal liability for the association's obligation in a single case, rather than choosing one path and risking the other.
Source & verification. Article text is reproduced verbatim from
the vLex (Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, 2026 Edition). Enacted by the Louisiana Legislature.
Last verified July 30, 2026.
· Official source
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