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Law in the state of Louisiana is based in part on civil law, Louisiana is the only U.S. state partially based on French and Spanish codes and ultimately Roman law, as opposed to English common law. Louisiana thus follows the system of most non-Anglophone countries in the world. In Louisiana, private law is based on the Louisiana Civil Code.

It is incorrect to equate the Louisiana Civil Code with the Napoleonic Code. Although the Napoleonic Code strongly influenced Louisiana law, the Napoleonic Code was not enacted until 1804, one year after the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. While the Louisiana Civil Code of 1808 has been continuously revised and updated since its enactment, it is still considered the controlling authority in the state.

Great differences still exist between Louisianian civil law and the common law found in the other U.S. states.^[specify] While some of these differences have been bridged due to the strong influence of common law in the United States, it is important to note that the "civilian" tradition is still deeply rooted in most aspects of Louisiana private law and in some parts of criminal law. Thus property, contractual, business entities structure, much of civil procedure, and family law are still mostly based on traditional Roman legal thinking. Concepts such as redhibition and lesion beyond moiety are still present in Louisiana law, and much of the terminology in the statutes themselves is based on French and Roman law, rather than their common law analogues.

The original Louisiana Civil Code was written in French and translated into English^{[citation needed]}, and a great effort is made to make sure that the modern version of the code agrees in both the English and the French versions. Some clauses, however, are only found in one or the other.^{[not specific enough to verify]} Many of the statements found in the Louisiana civil code are also echoed by both the state constitution and by the body of statutes maintained by the state. The state constitution and body of statutes are arranged in a similar format to the code.