Richard Pabst is a partner in the New Orleans office of Kean Miller.  He joined the firm in 2001 and practices in the Oil and Gas, Environmental, Litigation and Arbitration and Mediation groups.  Richard has more than 20 years of experience in oil and gas transactions, environmental regulatory and remediation issues and related litigation. Prior to joining the firm, he served as a Senior Counsel with the Texaco legal department in New Orleans and Houston.

Richard has special experience in handling legal issues related to the remediation of contaminated oil and gas properties, NORM sites and Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) and related litigation.  He advises clients with regard to environmental litigation and settlement strategy and remediation and regulatory issues involving state and federal agencies.

Richard has completed the Mediation Program at the Harvard Law School and, as a former senior corporate counsel, brings an “in-house” perspective to the appropriate resolution of legal disputes.

Representative Experience

• Lead counsel for a joint defense group in several NORM personal injury and property damage class action and mass joinder cases.
• Lead counsel for a major international oil company with significant Louisiana oil field environmental litigation involving NORM, wetlands loss, oil field pit remediation and ground water issues.
• Directed several internal investigations involving corporate conduct and regulatory compliance issues.

Education

Richard earned his J.D. from the LSU Law Center in 1986, and his LL.M in Energy and Environment from the Tulane University School of Law in 1993.  While at LSU, he was a member of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Team in 1984-1985 and 1985-1986. He earned his B.S. in Finance from the University of New Orleans in 1982. 

Richard was a Fellow at the Loyola Institute of Politics in 2008-2009 and attended Mediation Program at the Harvard Negotiation Institute in 2009.

Admissions

• Admitted, Louisiana, 1986 (and all federal courts in Louisiana); Texas, 2000

Memberships

• Louisiana State Bar Association (Member, Environmental Law Section)
• State Bar of Texas
• American Petroleum Institute (NORM Issue Group, NORM Litigation Group)
• Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association (Environmental Law Section, NORM Issue Group)
• Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation

Articles, Publications and Presentations

• Guest Lecturer: Loyola Law School, Environmental Issues in Louisiana Mineral Law, 1999– 2006.
• Speaker: "Selection and Retention of Outside Counsel," Annual Meeting of the Environmental Law Section of Commercial Law Affiliates, 2000.
• Speaker:  "Legal Issues in Dealing with NORM," NORM Conference, American Petroleum Institute and Gas Research Institute, 1995.
• Speaker:  "Solid Waste Management," Louisiana Environmental Law Seminar, Government Institutes, Inc., 1993.
• Author:  The Corporate Dilemma--Is it Possible to Preserve a Privilege for Environmental Audits?, 41 La Bar J. 110 (1993).
• Associate Editor:  Digest of Decisions Under the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, June 19, 1978 - March 2, 1988, Volume VIII (1988).
• Research Assistant: Louisiana Tort Law Materials, (1984) Professor William E. Crawford, LSU Law Center.