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 20 years of experience in the chemical and petrochemical industries, defending workplace accidents, chemical exposure cases, and class action 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 20 years.

Representative Experience

• Defense of large chemical and petrochemical companies 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
• Defense of large chemical and petrochemical companies in product liability suits involving alleged benzene, butadiene, and vinyl chloride exposure
• Obtained favorable ruling in a case before the Louisiana Supreme Court having significant impact on abandonment for nonprosecution in multi-party actions
  
• 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. in 1989 from the LSU Law Center 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. Gayla 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, Louisiana, 1989; United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Louisiana; United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
  

Memberships

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

Articles, Publications and Presentations

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

Community Service

• Board of Directors, Capital Area Alliance For The Homeless
  
• 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).