Louisiana physician non-compete law
Louisiana sharply limits physician non-competes.
Louisiana treats physician non-competes with heavy skepticism and narrows or sets aside restrictions that reach too far. Terms up to about 24 months tend to stand here; longer ones are the most vulnerable. Before you sign, pull the radius and term to the low end of what the state lets stand, and make sure the clause covers only the sites where you actually worked.
- Posture
- Enforceable if statutorily compliant; physician-specific caps
- Last reviewed
- 2026-06-10
- Radius that tends to stand
- —
- Term that tends to stand
- 24 months
Governing law: La. R.S. 23:921 (physician-specific provisions added by 2024 La. Act 273 / SB 165, eff. for contracts entered on/after Jan. 1, 2025)
These are the general rules for Louisiana. Your contract's exact radius, term, and buyout decide how it actually lands. See how your own clause compares — free.
Check your contract — free →A case that shaped this
Regional Urology, L.L.C. v. Price (2007, La. Ct. App. 2d Cir.) — 966 So. 2d 1087 (La. App. 2 Cir. 2007). Enforced a urologist's 2-year/Caddo-Bossier-parish non-compete against the physician, holding a properly drafted agreement that satisfies La. R.S. 23:921 is enforceable and not void on public-policy grounds (patient choice-of-physician concerns are for the legislature).
The detailed picture
Physician non-competes are enforceable only if they strictly comply with La. R.S. 23:921: max 2 years post-termination, and geographic scope limited to the parish of the physician's principal practice plus no more than 2 contiguous parishes where the employer carries on a similar business (Louisiana uses parish lists, not mileage radii). Act 273 of 2024 (eff. Jan. 1, 2025) added a contract-term sunset: the non-compete restraint expires 3 years from the effective date of the initial contract for primary care physicians (predominantly general family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics, or gynecology) or 5 years for all other physicians, and subsequent/renewal contracts after that term may not contain a non-compete; for physicians employed as of Jan. 1, 2025 the 3/5-year clock starts that date. Physicians employed by rural hospitals (Rural Hospital Preservation Act) and rural FQHCs are exempt. This is the most recent change as of June 2026; Louisiana did NOT ban physician non-competes, and the vacated/abandoned FTC ban does not change state law.
Common questions
Are physician non-competes enforceable in Louisiana?
Louisiana sharply limits physician non-competes. Governing law: La. R.S. 23:921 (physician-specific provisions added by 2024 La. Act 273 / SB 165, eff. for contracts entered on/after Jan. 1, 2025).
How far and how long can a Louisiana physician non-compete reach?
Terms up to about 24 months tend to stand here; longer ones are the most vulnerable. The radius and term in your specific contract decide how it lands — check your own clause.
Other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Non-compete enforceability turns on the exact wording of your contract and your circumstances; this page describes the state's general posture as last reviewed 2026-06-10.