Bartlett Presents at Tulane Environmental Law & Policy Summit

Tad Bartlett, special counsel in Fishman Haygood’s Litigation Section, presented at the 27^th Annual Tulane Environmental Law & Policy Summit on Mar. 12, 2022. Each year, the Summit brings together scientific and legal experts from various fields within the scope of environmental law and policy. Hosted and coordinated by students at Tulane University Law School, this year’s theme focused on Environmental Litigation. Read more about the event here.

Bartlett’s panel, “The Public Trust Doctrine and Environmental Law,” in which he appeared with USC Professor of Law Robin Craig and Beaux Jones, General Counsel for the Water Institute of the Gulf, addressed the public trust doctrine’s origin and evolution. Bartlett presented on the doctrine’s manifestation in Louisiana law, from its development in the Louisiana constitution through its incorporation into Louisiana jurisprudence in the 1984 Save Ourselves Supreme Court decision and a trilogy of Louisiana Supreme Court oyster-lessee decisions from 1989 through 2004. (Bartlett was counsel for amicus business organizations in the 2004 Avenal decision, with that amicus briefing resulting in the Louisiana Supreme Court analyzing public trust implications that had not been briefed by the principal parties.) Bartlett’s presentation then looked to still-evolving and future implications for the use of the public trust doctrine in “Act 312” oilfield contamination cases and coastal land-loss cases. Along with Bessie Daschbach and Chris Dalbom, Bartlett teaches a seminar on coastal litigation and policy at Tulane Law School each spring, which examines both the history and the continuing evolution of various legal regimes with regard to coastal wetlands loss in Louisiana and nationwide.

Our attorneys represent private landowners and governmental entities in cases involving environmental damage to Louisiana’s fresh water sources, land, and soil. The firm also represents and has obtained favorable outcomes for clients in cases where private property has been contaminated by oil and gas exploration and production activities, and where their property has been damaged through erosion caused by improper maintenance of canals dredged to support both pipeline and E&P activities. Click here to learn more about the firm’s Environmental group.