This guide builds on the Louisiana guide, which covers the advertising rules, the LSBA filing program, and the Supreme Court of Louisiana's AI letter. Here the focus is the local market: one parish court with specialized dockets, and a neighboring parish with its own district court.
The local search area is a parish
Louisiana's unit of local government is the parish, and Louisiana procedure follows it. Code of Civil Procedure article 2811 sends a succession to the district court of the parish where the deceased was domiciled. Readers will still type "New Orleans," but your pages should say which parish's court a matter belongs in, because that is the fact an assistant needs to answer correctly.
Getting the local court facts right
The Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court lists the Civil Division at 421 Loyola Avenue, Room 402, New Orleans, and the Land Records Division at 1340 Poydras Street, 4th Floor. The clerk's list of civil departments sorts work by docket:
| Docket | What it handles, per the clerk |
|---|---|
| Successions (Docket 1) | Successions and probate matters, tutorships, interdictions |
| Writs and Seizures (Docket 4) | Garnishments, executory process, sequestrations, foreclosures |
| Domestic (Docket 5) | Separations, divorces, custody rules, name changes |
"Tutorship" and "interdiction" are Louisiana terms many readers will not know. A New Orleans page that uses them correctly, and explains them in plain words, matches how the court itself describes the work.
What differs in Jefferson Parish
If your firm takes clients from Jefferson Parish, their matters go to a different court: the 24th Judicial District Court, served by the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court from offices on both the East Bank and the West Bank. A New Orleans page with only the place name swapped would send those readers to the wrong clerk. Separate parish pages earn their place here because the court, the clerk, and the filing locations differ.
What we build for New Orleans firms
- Practice-area pages that name the Civil District Court docket each matter runs through
- Separate Jefferson Parish pages where you take clients there, with that court's own facts
- Answer posts that explain Louisiana terms such as succession and tutorship in plain language
The estate planning guide shows why succession vocabulary matters, and the family law guide covers what divorce clients ask before they call. Many of those readers start in an assistant, so see how ChatGPT recommends lawyers.
Common questions
Where is a New Orleans succession opened?
In the district court of the parish where the deceased was domiciled, under Code of Civil Procedure article 2811. For an Orleans Parish domiciliary, that is the Civil District Court, where the clerk's Successions docket handles successions and probate matters.
Should a New Orleans firm build pages for Jefferson Parish?
Only if you take clients there. If you do, the page should name the 24th Judicial District Court and the Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court, since the court and filing offices differ from Orleans Parish.
Keep reading
Sources
- Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court, home page
- Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court, Hours and Locations
- Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court, Civil Departments (linked above)
- Jefferson Parish Clerk of Court (24th Judicial District Court)
- Louisiana State Legislature, Code of Civil Procedure art. 2811