Louisiana Land Loss Lawsuits Head to SCOTUS: Examining the Underlying Claims in Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish and Related Cases

Event Page on LEC Website

Recorded on Tuesday, September 23, 2025

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On June 16, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Chevron USA Incorporated, et al., Petitioners v. Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, et al., Nos. 23-30294, 23-30422, agreeing to decide during this October Term 2025 whether defendant energy producers are entitled to remove the cases filed in state courts to a federal forum to resolve the nature of their federal rights and immunities as federal contractors. 

Background

Since 2013, local Louisiana parishes have filed forty-three lawsuits alleging that energy company activities associated with energy production caused harm by, among other things, dredging and maintaining a network of canals to access wells located on coastal or marsh lands and to transport resources to serve federal contracts and the energy needs of the region. These lawsuits, which have lingered in one stage or another in the state courts, seek damages and remediation funding for coastal land loss and increased hurricane vulnerability. Many of the alleged wrongful acts targeted were conceived, authorized, and paid for by state, local, and federal authorities. Oftentimes, the energy producers being sued were conducting activities on Louisiana coastlands as direct federal contractors, supporting the military capabilities of the United States during World War II, especially in the provision of refined gas. Consequently, they have tried to remove the state cases, but federal district courts have largely remanded. These cases raise serious concerns regarding the scope of tort law; federal preemption; due process and retroactivity; traceability; causation and attribution; the proper role and ethical responsibilities of government litigators; and separation of powers; and the limits of the judiciary; among others.

Listen to This Important Discussion of the Underlying Claims

This webinar brought together a group of experts who have closely followed these cases and examined the underlying claims in the lawsuits, their implications, and the questions SCOTUS will consider in the case before it.

Panelists:

James Baehr, Special Counsel, Pelican Institute for Public Policy

Mike Fragoso, Partner, Torridon Law PLLC

Melissa Landry, Director of the Pelican Center for Energy, Pelican Institute for Public Policy

Michael R. Williams, Solicitor General, Office of the Attorney General of West Virginia

Moderator: Donald J. Kochan, Professor of Law and Executive Director, Law & Economics Center, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School