Gayla Moncla is a partner in the Baton Rouge office of Kean Miller. She joined the firm in 1998 and practices in the litigation and toxic tort defense groups. Gayla has more than 17 years of experience in the chemical industry, defending workplace accidents, chemical exposure cases, and hearing loss claims. Gayla represents clients in commercial litigation, toxic tort defense, products liability, premises litigation and environmental litigation. She also advises clients regarding workplace safety issues and evaluation of subcontractor contract provisions relating to indemnity and insurance requirements. She also has experience in retail premises litigation, having defended retail clients for over 17 years.

Representative Experience

• Successful defense of large chemical manufacturing company in premises liability and strict liability actions resulting from alleged asbestos exposure. Obtained dismissal of large chemical company in complete docket of asbestos exposure suits.
• Successfully argued a case before Louisiana Supreme Court having significant impact on abandonment for nonprosecution in multi-defendant cases.
• Successfully resolved series of workplace accidents that had resulted in an OSHA investigation for a chemical manufacturing company.
• Obtained defense verdicts for national retailer in several premises liability cases in federal court.

Education

Gayla earned her B.S. from Louisiana State University in 1973. She earned her J.D. from the LSU Law Center in 1989 where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Torts and in Advanced Litigation Clinic. She has served as an Adjunct Professor of Appellate Advocacy at the LSU Law Center. She presently serves on the Civil Procedure Committee of the Louisiana Law Institute.

Admissions

• Admitted to bar, 1989, Louisiana
• Admitted to practice in the Middle, Western and Eastern Districts of the United States District Courts for Louisiana

Memberships

• Baton Rouge, Louisiana State and American Bar Associations
• Louisiana Law Institute Code of Civil Procedure Committee
• Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel

Community Service

• Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Capital Area Safety Council.
• Chairman, Lawyers in the Classroom Committee, Baton Rouge Bar Association.
• Member and Contributing Author, Publications Committee, Baton Rouge Bar Association.

Reported Cases

• Louwanna Coleman James v. Formosa Plastics Corporation of Louisiana, 813 So. 2d335 (La. 2002).
• Sharp v. Kmart Corporation, et al, 991 F. Supp. 519 (M.D. La. 1998).
• Hornsby v. Allied Signal Inc. et al., 961 F. Supp. 923 (M.D. La. 1997).
• Bart Rivere v. Union Pacific Railroad Co., et al., 647 So. 2d 1140 (La. App. 1st Circuit 1994).
• Ardoin v. Formosa Plastic Corporation of Louisiana, et al, 884 F. Supp. 209 (M.D. La. 1994).

Articles, Publications and Presentations

• Abandonment: An Evolving Concept of Liberative Prescription, Louisiana Law Review, v. 63, no. 2, Winter 2003.