New Orleans Environmental Lawyers

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...

Yuxian Wang practices in toxic tort litigation, oil and gas litigation, asbestos litigation and hearing loss litigation. Yuxian has extensive experience in defending the petrochemical and manufacturing industries in lawsuits claiming chemical exposure. She has particular expertise in litigation involving the vinyl chloride industry including litigation related to allegations of cancer and other injuries arising from vinyl chloride exposure, as well as litigation related to alleged exposure to ethylene dichloride. She represents industrial clients in defending asbestos and hearing loss claims. She also works with oil exploration and refining companies in lawsuits by landowners claiming property damages related to oil...

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...

John Heinrich is Of Counsel to the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2000 and practices in the litigation group. John represents clients in commercial litigation, products liability, chemical exposure claims, personal injury defense, medical malpractice defense, toxic tort defense, ERISA, and OSHA matters. John has litigated cases not only in Louisiana but in 14 other states in both state and federal forums.

John earned his B.A. from Louisiana State University in 1973. He earned his J.D. in 1987 from the LSU Law Center where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Order...

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...

Kimberly Hymel is an attorney in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 2004 and practices in the energy, oil and gas, pipeline and commercial litigation groups. Kimberly represents national and international energy and petrochemical clients in a wide variety of litigation, with particular experience in environmental property damage cases, commercial contractual disputes, and toxic tort litigation. She has also worked extensively on electronic discovery issues, including management of large-scale discovery efforts for multi-national companies and advising clients regarding development and implementation of workable strategies, procedures, and discovery software tools for the collection, review, and...

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...

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...

Melissa Hemmans is an experienced Litigation Attorney in Kean Millers's Baton Rouge office. Her practice includes Petrochemical, Manufacturing, Municipal, Civil Rights Defense, Oil and Gas, and Local Business matters. She has extensive experience with cases involving Toxic Tort and Environmental claims. Melissa is dedicated to providing clients with creative solutions, unique strategies, and unparalleled value.

In 1996, Melissa received her B.A. from Louisiana State University. She obtained her J.D. from the LSU Law Center in 1999. Melissa is admitted to practice law in the State of Louisiana, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, United States District Courts for the Eastern,...

Blake R. David was raised in Lafayette and is a founding partner of Broussard & David, LLC. Mr. David focuses on personal injury and wrongful death litigation with an emphasis on offshore/maritime, trucking accident, aviation, products liability, industrial accident, and automobile claims. Mr. David is an "AV" rated attorney by Martindale-Hubble (highest rating possible). Mr. David is board certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in Civil Trial Advocacy. Mr. David is also an Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Mr. David has been recognized by Louisiana Super Lawyers in the field of personal injury law, and...

Scott Zimmer is a partner in the Shreveport office of Kean Miller and practices in the commercial litigation group. He assists clients in all manner of litigation, including commercial, environmental, transportation, gaming industry litigation, and complex personal injury matters.

Scott is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell. He is listed in Louisiana Super Lawyers 2018 - 2019.

Scott earned his B.S. from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1994. He earned his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1998.