Art. 1634 Cross-examination of a party or person identified with a party

If you are involved in a lawsuit, the other side can call you as a witness during the trial. This also applies to people who are closely connected to a party, like a company employee or someone acting on the party's behalf. The opposing lawyer can ask you questions directly, even though you are on the other side of the case.

When this happens, the questioning follows the normal rules for cross-examination found in the Louisiana Code of Evidence. This means the other side's lawyer can ask leading questions, meaning questions that suggest their own answer, similar to how they would question any witness who is not on their side.

In short, this rule lets each side put the opposing party or someone tied to them on the stand and question them like a hostile witness. It gives lawyers a tool to get information directly from the other party, rather than only relying on what that party volunteers when questioned by their own lawyer.