Melissa A. Hemmans

Melissa Hemmans defends the rights of major Louisiana petrochemical and manufacturing clients in a wide variety of state and federal court litigation claims. Honored among The Best Lawyers in America’s “Ones to Watch” and “Women in the Law,” Melissa brings decades of proven advocacy skill, persuasive negotiation talent, veritable trial acumen, and outstanding research and writing abilities to energy sector businesses.

Melissa advises on litigation strategy and management. She brings particular experience to resolving complex oil and gas disputes. Melissa is also skilled in resolving toxic tort and environmental disputes, as well as municipal law, insurance defense, and civil rights claims.

Clients value Melissa’s thorough case analysis and dispute resolution strategies that parallel her client’s commercial goals. She regularly resolves multimillion-dollar disputes by focusing not only on what her client hopes to achieve, but also on what makes sense for them financially. Melissa is personally committed to saving her clients both time and money.

Dedicated to working with energy industry companies to design the right offense or defense at the onset of a dispute, Melissa’s aptitude for leveraging discovery is indicative of why she has earned her reputation as a problem solver. Melissa is appreciated for demystifying the litigation process and aggressively defending her client’s rights at every turn – including by serving as trial counsel as needed. One of few lawyers who has actually served as a jurist, Melissa brings this first-hand perspective to her trial advocacy practice today.

Earlier in her career, Melissa was appointed as an Interim Hearing Officer by the judges of the Twenty-third Judicial District Court. In that capacity, Melissa presided over all IV-D non-support matters and all protective orders in Ascension, Assumption, and St. James Parishes. In addition, she heard all state paternity matters in Ascension Parish.

Following law school, Melissa served as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Alvin Turner, Jr. of the Twenty-third Judicial District Court.