Lauren H. Shah

Special Counsel

Location
Houston
Phone number
(713) 355-5002

Listed among the energy law ​“Ones to Watch” by Best Lawyers in America and recognized by US Legal 500 for environmental litigation, Lauren Shah offers passionate advocacy to keep her clients in compliance and their businesses moving forward.

Lauren helps clients understand the shifting environmental and energy priorities of the administration and regulatory agencies and how those changes can impact their businesses.

An effective communicator to judges and regulators alike, Lauren understands the cost implications of responding to agency requests and is adept at working with clients to take the approach that best meets their goals.

Lauren regularly handles issues of regulatory compliance, permitting, real estate transactions, and all aspects of litigation—from administrative hearings to multi-party, complex multi-district matters. She has pursued and defended claims involving property damages, tort damages, remediation, allocation, cost recovery, and natural resource damages under state and federal statutes and common law.

Lauren serves as counsel for states, territories, and private-sector clients in both litigation and administrative actions related to contamination and natural resource damages from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

At the same time, Lauren devotes a portion of her practice to representing energy, real estate, transportation, and manufacturing clients in commercial and general civil litigation. She has handled lawsuits involving real estate transactions, commercial contracts, eminent domain, oil and gas matters, and business-related torts.

Lauren began her litigation career as an Assistant County Attorney at the Office of the Harris County Attorney, representing Harris County in enforcing state environmental regulations. She brought these matters alongside the Texas Office of the Attorney General, who represents the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Lauren also has previous experience in private practice, where she defended insurance policyholders in tort, premises liability, property damage, and industrial accident disputes.

In addition to her legal practice, Lauren is involved in a variety of philanthropic, pro bono, and volunteer initiatives. She also serves as chair of the Houston chapter of Women At KDW, Kelley Drye’s affinity group for women attorneys.

Serve on a team acting as Special Counsel to the Attorney General of New Jersey representing the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in a series of actions related to statewide-PFAS contamination, including litigation brought against DuPont and Chemours related to PFOA contamination at several industrial facilities in New Jersey.

Serve on a team representing the state of Ohio and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in litigation against DuPont and Chemours for decades-long discharges of a perfluorinated chemical (PFOA) from its Washington Works Plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia into Ohio and seeking to recover all past and future costs to investigate, remediate, and restore lands and waters of Ohio contaminated by PFOA, as well as damages and equitable relief.

Serve on a team representing the State of North Carolina in bringing claims against DuPont and Chemours for GenX contamination from their Fayetteville, North Carolina plant across a broad swath of the Cape Fear River and Coastal North Carolina.

Serve on teams representing states and sovereigns, including the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, North Carolina, Oregon, and Tennessee, in litigation relating to contamination from PFAS-containing aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) that have been consolidated in multidistrict (MDL) in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, In Re: Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2:18-mn2873-RMG.

Serve on Special Counsel team representing the Attorney General of Guam in bringing an action against the United States to recover a portion of the costs of removal and remedial action incurred by Guam arising in connection with military contamination and operations on the island for decades.

Represent landowners in condemnation matters before Texas courts.

Represent regulated entities in permit challenges before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), including in administrative proceedings before the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH).

Represent a Responsible Party in Texas State Superfund consent order proceedings.

Represent a former pipeline operator in real estate and environmental matters associated with the closure of the pipeline.

Represent a major waste and environmental services company in various land use, real estate, and environmental matters.

Recommended in US Legal 500 for her work in the Environment Litigation area, 2022-2024.

The Best Lawyers in America© ​“Ones to Watch” (Woodward/White, Inc.), Energy Law, 2022-2025.

Gulf Ports of the Americas Association, associate member

Houston Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Board, 2023-2024

Houston Young Lawyers Association

American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources