Leah C. Poole

Leah C. Poole is a Louisiana litigator recognized for representing landowners and public entities in complex, high-exposure environmental and Legacy oilfield contamination litigation. Her practice is devoted to protecting property owners impacted by decades of oil and gas operations and prosecuting technically intensive cases involving soil and groundwater contamination, agricultural land impairment, and environmental remediation obligations.

Leah serves as lead and co-counsel in significant matters across Louisiana involving contamination of Underground Sources of Drinking Water, well blowouts, mechanical integrity failures creating subsurface migration pathways, saltwater and NOW disposal impacts, land loss and subsidence damages, operator successor liability, and oil and gas leasing disputes. She is frequently retained by attorneys statewide as referral and co-counsel litigation specialist in cases requiring trial strategy, expert development, and complex environmental damages presentation.

Her clients range from multigenerational farming families and individual landowners to large landholding companies and governmental bodies. Leah has prosecuted claims against many of the nation’s largest energy companies, securing substantial recoveries for Louisiana property owners. She was recently awarded $55,000,000 at trial for damage arising from contamination affecting her client’s property in St. Mary Parish.

Known for her command of technical expert evidence and trial advocacy, Leah regularly handles matters involving competing regulatory, geological, hydrogeological, and engineering issues central to legacy litigation. Leah is laser-focused on her clients’ best interests by restoring their land and enforcing operators’ remediation obligations under Louisiana law.

Leah is a recurring speaker at the Louisiana State Bar Association Annual Trial Seminar in New Orleans, where she presents trial practice and litigation strategy. She earned her Juris Doctor from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where she served as an Executive Member of the Loyola Trial Advocacy Board and competed nationally in advocacy competitions while coaching trial advocates across the United States.

Leah is admitted to practice in all Louisiana state courts, the United States District Courts of Louisiana, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Leah has been selected to the Super Lawyers Rising Stars list for six consecutive years and is an active member of the Louisiana State and Baton Rouge Bar Associations.

Outside her practice, Leah is a devoted wife and mother of two who enjoys hiking, fishing, and kayaking with her family and their dog, Louie.