Lauren Brogdon
Lauren Brogdon is a partner in the Energy Litigation Practice Group in Haynes Boone’s Houston office and chair of the firm's national Crisis Management Practice Group.
Certified in Crisis Leadership, Lauren brings a robust understanding of the challenges that her clients face during both routine emergencies and unprecedented incidents. She applies this knowledge and experience to planning and implementing response plans and assisting clients with crisis recovery, all with an eye toward avoiding liability.
Lauren has significant experience representing energy clients in suits related to hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas operations, mass tort litigation arising from catastrophic industrial accidents, and toxic tort suits involving chemical exposure and environmental contamination. She has handled high-profile cases related to fires, chemical spills, pipeline explosions, and other disasters. She also frequently advises boards, C-suites, and business unit heads on a range of litigation avoidance, product liability, and marketing strategies.
Throughout the course of her career, Lauren has devoted significant time and resources to charitable activities and pro bono litigation. She has successfully represented dozens of clients in divorce and child custody suits and disputes involving domestic violence. Lauren previously served as chair of Houston Volunteer Lawyers, the largest provider of pro bono services in Harris County. She also previously served as president of the Houston Young Lawyers Association.
- Refinery and Pipeline Explosions: representation of chemical and energy companies in connection with negligence and premises liability claims and government investigations arising out of explosions, fires, and other industrial accidents.
- Environmental Contamination and Nuisance: defense of energy companies, including exploration and production companies and pipeline operators, against nuisance claims related to alleged loss of use and enjoyment of property and alleged water, soil, and air contamination.
- Chemical Exposure Claims: defense of chemical suppliers and industrial facilities against personal injury and wrongful death claims related to exposure to benzene, butadiene, and other chemicals.
- Hydraulic Fracturing and Injection Wells: defense of exploration and production companies against claims for property damage and personal injury related to drilling activities, including obtaining a favorable settlement in suit alleging connection between fracking and earthquakes and obtaining landmark summary judgment decision holding that fracking was not subject to strict liability in Pennsylvania.
- Oil and Gas Royalties: representation of upstream and midstream companies against claims for underpayment of oil and gas royalties, including class-actions and multi-district litigation.
- Environmental Agency Actions: challenge of government actions regarding water and soil remediation before state administrative tribunals and defense in associated litigation alleging natural resource damages.
- Litigation Avoidance and Risk Management Advising: frequent consultation with clients on pre-litigation product liability, marketing, environmental, and event management issues.
*Some of these representations were handled by Lauren prior to joining Haynes Boone.
- Member of Chief, a national private network of executive-level women (2022 - present)
- Member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas (2013 - present)
- Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, Houston Bar Foundation, and Houston Young Lawyers Foundation
- Houston Area Women’s Center BELIEVE Committee (2023)
- Houston Bar Foundation Fellows Committee Co-Chair (2023 - present)
- Houston Young Lawyers Association (President 2017 - 2018)
- Houston Volunteer Lawyers (Board Chair 2018 - 2019)
- Houston Bar Association (Board Director 2017 - 2019)
- Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA), Young Friends Advisory Committee (2021 - 2022)
- Junior League of Houston
- St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
- Rising Star (Class Action/Mass Torts), Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2017-2022
- "Ones to Watch" Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Inc., for Energy Law 2021-2024, Environmental Law 2023-2024, Litigation - Environmental 2023-2024, and Product Liability Litigation - Defendants 2024
- Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Creative Partnership with Chevron Corp., The Texas Lawbook, 2020
- Honorable Mention, 40 Under 40 by Houston Business Journal, 2018
- President’s Award for Outstanding Service, Houston Young Lawyers Association, 2015-2016
- "Crisis Management: Recalls and Beyond," presenter, FMI Legal Regulatory & Compliance Conference, July 17, 2023.
- “Post-Crisis Litigation Considerations,” panelist, Crisis Management Academy, Jan. 12, 2023 & Feb. 2, 2023
- “Preparing a Crisis Management Playbook,” moderator, Crisis Management Academy, Jan. 12, 2023 & Feb. 2, 2023
- "Ethical Issues in Disaster Responses," presenter, Ethics in Employment Law, Haynes Boone event, Nov. 3, 2022.
- “Maintaining Confidentiality in Internal Investigations,” co-author, The Advocate (State Bar Litigation Section Report), Sept. 21, 2022.
- "The Use of Experts in Environmental Crisis Litigation," panelist, 34th Annual Texas Environmental Superconference, Aug. 5, 2022.
- “Arkema Explosion Cases Demonstrate Need for Coordination on Both Sides of the V,” author, The Houston Lawyer, May 16, 2022.
- "Doing Business in the Bakken Shale: What In-House Counsel Need to Know in 2022, presenter, Haynes Boone event, May 12, 2022.
- "Key Post-Disaster Social Media Strategies For Cos.," author, Law360, Apr. 26, 2022.
- “Effectively Responding to a Catastrophic Environmental Event,” presenter, Institute for Energy Law webinar, Mar. 2, 2021.
- “The Complex World of Litigation,” speaker, HYLA Hylights Podcast, Oct. 29, 2020.
- “How to Avoid Partner Disputes: Lessons of Dispute Resolution,” presenter, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, Sept. 5, 2019.
- “U.S. Supreme Court Disallows Untimely Piggybacked Class Actions in China Agritech v. Resh,” author, The Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas, News for the Bar, Sept. 11, 2018.
- “One year later, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s applicability to class actions still uncertain,” presenter, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP, Aug. 15, 2018.
- “Nuisance Cases Against Energy Companies in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Other Areas with Significant or Developing Oil and Gas Exploration,” author, Texas Journal of Business Law, May 2018.
- “Oklahoma Quakes Trigger Legal Concerns for Energy Cos.,” author, Law360, Feb. 4, 2016.
Education
Certificate, Executive Education, Harvard Kennedy School, 2023
J.D., Columbia Law School, 2012, Notes Editor, Columbia Journal of Environmental Law
B.A., Policy Studies and English, Rice University, 2009, cum laude
Languages
Spanish
French
Italian
Admissions
Texas
Court Admissions
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
Haynes and Boone, LLP has hired Lauren Brogdon as a Houston-based partner in its Energy Litigation Practice. Lauren brings significant experience representing energy clients in suits related to hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas operations, mass tort litigation arising from catastrophic industrial accidents, and toxic tort suits involving chemical exposure and environmental contamination [...]
Lauren Brogdon in Texas Lawbook: ‘A Crisis Manager and Survivor Helping Other Survivors’
March 29, 2023