Louis Tomlinson's in for a Fight, Paparazzo No Stranger to Scuffles, Lawsuits

Louis Tomlinson is in for a legal battle with the paparazzo he allegedly attacked ... because the guy has sued in the past for a similar incident.

TMZ broke the story ... Karl Larsen -- the photog who says Tomlinson smashed his head on the floor Friday at LAX -- sued a company that produced a Lana Del Rey music vid in 2013, claiming 3 of its employees roughed him up for snapping pics of the shoot.

Larsen was taking photos of LDR near the L.A. river when 3 men from Black Hand Cinema allegedly accosted him. As you can see from the video ... things got pretty intense.

Larsen claimed the men shoved and jerked him and used a box cutter to slice his finger and take his camera ... then made him erase the memory card. He sued for $1 million, but the case was later dismissed ... which is generally code for settlement.

As we reported, Larsen has already lawyered up in the Tomlinson case, hiring Gloria Allred.