Art. 1703 Scope of judgment

When someone doesn't respond to a lawsuit and the other side wins by default, the judgment has to match what was actually asked for in the original petition. The court can't award something completely different from what the person suing originally requested.

As for money damages, the court can only award the amount that the evidence actually supports. Even though the other side didn't show up to fight the case, the person suing still has to prove their damages are real and accurate. The court won't just hand out whatever dollar amount was mentioned in the petition without some proof backing it up.

This protects people who get sued and don't respond, whether by mistake or otherwise, from facing a judgment that goes beyond what they were told they were being sued for. It also keeps the person suing honest by requiring actual evidence for the money they're asking the court to award.