Practice Focus
Class Actions/Mass Actions/MDLs, Environmental, Governmental Securities Litigation, Insurance Coverage, Lender Liability, Real Estate Litigation, Securities and AntitrustBlair Schilling is a partner in the firm’s Litigation Section, where she represents clients in a wide range of commercial matters in federal and state court, with a concentration in environmental law.
Her environmental practice includes matters involving coastal restoration, land contamination, land use, clean water, getting brownfield sites safely back into commerce, regulatory and permitting, and expropriation issues. In doing this work, Blair represents state government agencies, non-profit organizations, and private companies and individuals, including the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, Restore the Mississippi River Delta, and many private landowners. The goal of her environmental practice is to make Louisiana more resilient and encourage future sustainable economic growth in the region.
Blair represents landowners throughout Louisiana against some of the oil and gas industry’s largest operators for land loss, oilfield contamination, erosion, and groundwater contamination. Because the cases she handles are highly technical and require a great deal of scientific and operational understanding, Blair is known for immersing herself in the complicated aspects of these matters, as well as for her keen ability to steer her cases in a strategic and effective manner to achieve the overarching goal of the litigation.
In 2017, Blair was a member of the five-day trial team for Fishman Haygood’s seminal coastal land loss case, Vintage Assets Inc. v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C., et al., which set a course for the restoration of coastal wetlands that surround pipelines. The team obtained favorable injunctive relief against pipeline company defendants, requiring restoration of the lost wetlands and an ongoing obligation to protect these wetlands from future erosion.
From there, Blair has brought multiple cases on behalf of landowners against various pipeline companies across the state, similarly seeking to have the land loss caused by the pipeline canals traversing the property restored and protected in the future. For example, Blair recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of the LDWF for land loss damage to the Pointe aux Chenes Wildlife Management Area (WMA), which is made up of nearly 34,000 acres of coastal wetlands in Lafourche and Terrebone parishes. This land is entrusted to the LDWF and provides habitats for many species of fish and wildlife, and it offers valuable ecological functions, namely storm protection and public recreation. The LDWF recently filed a petition for injunctive relief that seeks to hold several pipeline companies accountable for failing to properly maintain the land entrusted to them for their use as pipeline canals, resulting in destruction of the important marshlands across the WMA. The suit seeks to require the pipeline defendants to honor their contractual obligations to safeguard and restore the coastal wetlands they have damaged.
As a lifelong learner, Blair continually seeks out ways to diversify her practice while helping the greater community. She recently completed training at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, an internationally recognized program at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law. Blair applies these skills by mediating, for example, Hurricane Ida claims, no small task as Louisiana’s insurance coverage lawsuits skyrocketed over 2020 hurricane damages. Understanding the importance of mediation programs in keeping courts from becoming overloaded, Blair devotes her time to helping to amicably resolve these matters. Due to her dedication to disaster relief, Blair was recently appointed to the American Bar Association’s Disaster Legal Services Team, a pro-bono initiative where the ABA has teamed up with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help people navigate the aftermath of presidentially-declared disasters. In her second ABA appointment of the 2023-24 bar year, she also serves as vice-chair of the Young Lawyers Division’s Environment, Energy & Resources committee.
Blair recently earned her Sustainable Capitalism and ESG certificate from UC Berkeley School of Law’s Executive Education program. The course approaches ESG (environmental, social, and governance) issues from both a legal perspective and through business risks and opportunities. The goal of the program is to demonstrate how to incorporate ESG considerations into business and investment strategy.
Blair also frequently shares her knowledge with others. She and a panel of leading coastal experts were chosen to present “Legal Ramifications Surrounding the Latest Scientific Evidence in Pipeline Canals and Land Loss” at the 2023 State of the Coast conference (the largest statewide conference of its kind), which provides an interdisciplinary forum to exchange timely and relevant information on the dynamic conditions of Louisiana’s coastal communities, environment, and economy.
Female representation in the legal field and in her community is of utmost importance to Blair. She recently participated in the Loyola University New Orleans Women’s Leadership Academy, a noteworthy recognition given that she is a Loyola Law alumna. The program seeks to increase the representation of women in leadership roles by educating, empowering, and elevating its cohorts, and it is the only one of its kind hosted by a university in Louisiana.
In addition, Blair is participating in the 2024 Leadership Louisiana program. This Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) initiative was established in 1989 to offer civic-minded citizens a deeper understanding of the challenges facing the state and the solutions to help move forward. She also serves as general counsel of the Young Leadership Council’s 2024 board of directors.
Blair is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Litigation Counsel of America. She is a current member and past President of the Association for Women Attorneys, and she has also served as the Bylaws Chairperson for the Independent Women’s Organization.
Education
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J.D., magna cum laude, from Loyola University College of Law, 2013
- Member of the Loyola Law Review
- B.A. in Integrated Strategic Marketing from the University of Kentucky, 2007
Publications / Presentations
Publications
- “Compelling an out-of-state defendant to appear at trial,” Louisiana Association for Justice, Louisiana Advocates, September 2018
- “Bundrick v. Anadarko Petroleum Company: Third Circuit Denies Certain Mineral Lessors the Right to Demand Restoration,” Louisiana Association for Justice, Louisiana Advocates, May 2016
Presentations
- Speaker, “Mass Injunctions (with or without the class),” Louisiana State Bar Association Complex Litigation Symposium, November 8, 2024
- Panelist, “Legal Ramifications Surrounding the Latest Scientific Evidence in Pipeline Canals and Land Loss,” State of the Coast Conference, May 31, 2023
- Panelist, “Litigation in the Coastal Zone”, 24th Annual Tulane Environmental Law & Policy Summit, March 22, 2019
- Panelist, “Environmental Justice”, 24th Annual Tulane Environmental Law & Policy Summit, March 22, 2019
- Panelist, “Coastal Remedies Post-SLFPAE: Private and Parish Litigation,” 23rd Annual Tulane Environmental Law & Policy Summit, March 9, 2018
Representative Matters
Land Loss
- In Vintage Assets Inc. v. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C., et. al., No. 16-00713 (E.D. La.), following a 5-day trial against two pipeline companies for causing wide-spread erosion of plaintiff’s property, the trial team obtained favorable ruling of first impression ordering specific performance and restoration.
Legacy
- In BCR Holdings v. Baby Oil, Inc., et al., No. 127030 (17th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Lafourche, Louisiana) (oil field contamination and illegal discharge case), the trial team obtained a favorable settlement for our client in a confidential amount.
- Bowie Lumber Associates v. Anadarko OGC Company, et al., No. 134888 (17th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Lafourche, Louisiana)(multi-million dollar contamination case).
- New 90, LLC, et al. v. Grigsby Petroleum, Inc., et al., No. 130528 (16th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Mary, Louisiana)(multi-million dollar contamination of groundwater case).
- Bowie Lumber Associates v. White Oak Operating Company, LLC, et al., No. 129052 (17th Judicial District Court for the Parish of Lafourche, Louisiana)( multi-million dollar contamination case).
Public Bid Law
- Wallace C. Drennan, Inc. v. The Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans, No. 2015-11017 (Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans, Louisiana) (multi-million dollar public bid law dispute).
Securities Fraud and Lender Liability
- Terence K. Sumpter, et al. v. William Hungerford Jr., et al., No. 12-00717 (E.D. La.) (successfully settled a multi-million dollar securities fraud case involving more than two dozen investors).
- In River House Partners, LLC v. Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, LLC, 15-00058 (M.D. La.) the trial team obtained favorable settlement in a complex a case involving a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development secured loan.