Louisiana Environmental Lawyers

Matt Smith is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2013 and practices in the commercial litigation, toxic tort defense, and environmental litigation groups. His work focuses on the representation of oil and gas exploration and production companies, mid-stream companies, and other industry companies in various litigation matters including property damage and contamination, property rights, and commercial and contractual disputes.

Matt has extensive experience guiding clients through claims related to soil contamination, groundwater contamination, air pollution, and the associated regulatory standards. His practice covers a wide range of commercial and litigation issues ranging...

Lee Vail is of counsel to the New Orleans office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2010 and practices in the environmental regulatory, Process Safety Management, emergency response, and intellectual property groups. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Louisiana and holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. Prior to joining Kean Miller, Lee served as Manager of Environmental Affairs for a worldwide oil and gas company.

Lee brings more than 30 years of process engineering, project management, process safety management, and environmental regulatory experience in the petroleum refining industry to the representation of industry clients. His expertise includes sophisticated...

Attorney Leonard Kilgore is an experienced advocate for local, national and international commercial, energy and industrial clients in litigation involving toxic tort claims, personal injury, property damage claims, and class actions.

Trey McCowan is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 1989 and practices in the litigation group. Trey represents local, regional and multi-national energy and petrochemical clients in a wide variety of litigation matters. He has specific experience representing clients in litigation involving complex commercial agreements and legacy site litigation in the energy industry. Trey also represents clients with regard to environmental litigation and toxic tort defense. He also advises clients on electronic discovery, e-discovery compliance, electronically stored information (ESI), electronic information management, and retention and destructive policies and procedures.

Trey is listed...

Pam Mascari is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 1997 and practices in the litigation, toxic tort and pipeline defense group. She represents clients in general litigation, oil and gas litigation, intrastate pipeline regulatory matters, environmental litigation, products liability cases, complex pharmaceutical drug litigation, and state and local tax litigation. Pam has extensive experience in the Louisiana energy, petrochemical and manufacturing industry and advises clients with regard to litigation strategy and management in Louisiana courts and regulatory matters before the Louisiana Office of Conservation. Pam also has extensive experience handling complex...

Lauren Rucinski is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2016 and practices in the environmental law and intellectual property group.

Lauren helps clients understand which environmental regulations apply to new facilities and processes. Her practice focuses on permitting, compliance, litigation and transactional issues, as well as rulemaking efforts at both the state and federal level. She advises a wide range of clients including petrochemical facilities, oil refineries, natural gas terminals, glass manufacturers, and commodity processing plants.

Lauren helps clients protect and maximize the value of their businesses' intellectual property by advising them on...

Richard McConnell is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He is trial counsel for energy and financial companies in high stakes lawsuits involving a wide variety of claims. Prior cases involved soil and groundwater contamination, wetlands loss, toxic tort exposure, lost mineral leasing opportunities, mineral lease cancellation, pipeline right-of-way claims, expropriation/condemnation, and commercial litigation. Richard also serves as appellate counsel arguing before state and federal appellate courts.

Richard’s recent experience includes obtaining a successful verdict as trial counsel for national pipeline companies in a wetlands loss lawsuit involving canals that widened over time, he was lead...

Tyler Kostal is an associate attorney in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller. She practices in the energy and environmental litigation group, defending energy companies in lawsuits involving oil and gas, environmental, toxic tort exposure, wetlands loss, pipeline, and commercial litigation and appeals. She also assists clients with Medicare reporting and compliance obligations for toxic tort exposure claims.

Tyler is listed as a Rising Star by Louisiana Super Lawyers for 2019.

Tyler earned her B.B.A., cum laude, in economics and marketing in 2005 from the University of Mississippi. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Loyola University New Orleans College of...

Julie Silbert is special counsel in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 1994 and practices in the environmental law and commercial litigation groups. Julie has extensive experience in the Louisiana energy, petrochemical and manufacturing industry and works with clients regarding litigation strategy and litigation management. She has experience in litigation involving complex commercial matters, casualty, toxic mold, NORM litigation, and environmental contamination.

Julie earned her B.A., summa cum laude, from Tulane University. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Tulane University Law School in 1984. Julie was a recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship...

Shane Sandefer is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He practices in the business transactions and environmental law groups and is a Registered Professional Engineer. Shane represents local, regional, and national clients in a variety of real estate, finance, and environmental matters including, industrial and commercial real estate transactions, title insurance matters, general preparation and negotiation, regulatory proceedings, wetlands permitting, wetlands mitigation, and state and federal environmental advice. Prior to law school, Shane was a project engineer for Turner Environmental and a senior staff engineer for URS. He also served as an assistant project manager for...

John Funderburk is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller and practices in the litigation and construction groups. He represents clients in energy, commercial, environmental, transportation, and construction litigation in both state and federal courts. Prior to joining the firm, John practiced with a global law firm from its Houston, Texas office.

John has represented both individuals and corporations in complex environmental litigation, contract disputes, maritime actions, personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits, deceptive trade practices claims, and oilfield contamination litigation. In addition, he coordinates with clients and experts to respond quickly to accidents and incidents across the...

Randy Cangelosi is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He practices in the litigation group. Randy represents clients in complex products liability, general litigation, commercial and business litigation, environmental litigation, healthcare issues and related business disputes, medical malpractice defense, telecommunications law and litigation, trademark and intellectual property claims, and personal injury defense. He has trial experience in products liability defense and large commercial litigation matters. He also has experience in NORM, TERM and asbestos cases in the energy industry. Randy also has served client's needs on a national level, obtaining various admissions to the bar in...

Jim Silverstein practices in the areas of admiralty and maritime, products liability, energy, construction and environmental law.

Jim has extensive litigation experience, and has successfully defended clients in cases involving various aspects of maritime, admiralty, energy, and oil and gas law. He also maintains an active practice successfully defending manufacturers in product liability cases. He has defended cases involving numerous products, including ladders, electrical motors, fans, table saws, radial arm saws, planers, power tools, cranes and pumps. He has also successfully defended and prosecuted cases in the commercial litigation field.

Jim is an accomplished trial lawyer and is listed in Louisiana Super...

Hattie Guidry is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2014 and practices in the environmental and litigation groups.

Hattie earned her B.S., summa cum laude, from Northwestern State University in 2011. She earned her J.D./D.C.L. from the LSU Law Center in 2014, where she was named to the Chancellor's List, received the CALI award for Obligations, and was a member of the Trial Advocacy Board.

Claire Juneau is a partner in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2011 and practices in the litigation group, including energy and petrochemical, oil field legacy sites, and appeals.

Prior to joining the firm, Claire served as a Law Clerk to Supreme Court Associate Justice Jeffery Victory. She also served as a judicial intern to First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Randolph Parro.

Claire received her B.A., summa cum laude, in 2007 from Louisiana State University. Claire received her J.D., magna cum laude, in 2010 from the LSU Law Center where she was a member of...

Dorothy Thomas is special counsel to the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller and practices in the areas of energy and environmental litigation. She has more than 35 years of experience defending product liability matters, chemical exposure cases, railroad crossing accidents, FELA matters, workplace accidents and retail premises cases.

Dorothy earned her B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1975. She earned her J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 1979 where she was a member and Lead Articles Editor of the Loyola Law Review and a member of the winning Appellate Advocacy team.

Chelsea Gomez Caswell is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2013 and practices in the labor and employment and litigation groups. She represents employers in a variety of labor and employment matters in state and federal courts and before the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights (LCHR), including EEOC charges; discrimination, harassment, and retaliation litigation; litigation of disputes related to non-competition agreements; and wage and hour claims. Chelsea assists clients with employee handbooks, company policies, employment contracts, and in day-to-day counseling. She has...

Kristi Obafunwa is an associate in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2014 and practices in the energy and environmental group. Kristi represents major Louisiana petrochemical and manufacturing clients and businesses in a variety of litigation - general litigation, oil and gas litigation, and commercial litigation.

Kristi earned her B.S. in 1999 and her M.S. in 2005 from Louisiana State University. Prior to attending law school, she worked in enrollment management particularly focusing on undergraduate admissions and recruitment. Kristi earned her J.D./D.C.L., cum laude, in 2014 from the LSU Law Center, where she was named...

Lou Grossman is a partner in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller and practices in the environmental litigation, energy, and appellate groups. Since being admitted to practice in 2003, he has handled complex disputes involving the energy and petrochemical industries, including toxic tort claims, environmental damage claims, and commercial litigation. In addition, Lou has handled the appeals of numerous high-profile legal issues at the trial and appellate court level. He is listed in Louisiana Super Lawyers as a Rising Star for 2013 and 2014. Lou was admitted to the Colorado Bar in 2015, and was listed as a Rising...

Gayla Moncla is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller and practices in the areas of toxic tort and environmental litigation, premises liability, and commercial litigation. She has more than 25 years of experience in the chemical and petrochemical industries, defending workplace accidents, chemical exposure cases, products liability cases, as well as advising clients regarding workplace safety issues and OSHA regulations. Gayla also has experience in retail premises litigation having defended retail clients for over 25 years.

Gayla earned her B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1973. She earned her J.D. in 1989 from the LSU Law Center...