Team
Megan provides counsel on issues regarding environmental, natural resources, coastal, and conservation real estate law. She represents clients on a wide array of issues, including federal and state project permitting, regulatory, and enforcement matters; environmental, coastal restoration, climate, and resilience issues; ecosystem and carbon voluntary and regulatory markets; land use and conservation real estate; utility and energy regulation; and federal and state governmental and legislative matters. Megan represents clients throughout project stages, from planning, financing, and real estate acquisition to regulatory processes, procurement and construction contracts, and project operations and enforcement. She also advises and represents clients in litigation, including state, federal, and administrative courts, and regulatory proceedings before the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
Megan’s experience includes working for the Louisiana Department of Justice, where she served as the environmental section chief and lead in-house counsel for the State of Louisiana during the Deepwater Horizon disaster and subsequent litigation (In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, MDL No. 2179) and natural resource damage assessment. She also served as Deputy Director and Legal Advisor for the Governor’s Office – Coastal Activities where she developed, reviewed, and coordinated with federal, state, and local officials and stakeholders with respect to funding and implementation of integrated coastal protection projects, and with the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and other federal cooperating agencies for the Louisiana coastal restoration projects on the Federal Permitting Dashboard.
Awards/Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in America: Litigation - Environmental, 2023-2027; Natural Resources Law, 2025-2027; Environmental Law, 2027.
- Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana Coastal Stewardship Award (2018)
Publications & Presentations
- Managing Risk to Achieve Utility-Market Innovation, Environmental Law Institute, Environmental Law & Policy Annual Review and Environmental Law Institute’s Law & Policy Journal, Washington, DC (2025)
- Shaping the Future of Restoration: Insights and Innovations, Restore America’s Estuaries Coastal & Estuarine Summit (2024)
- Blue Carbon in Louisiana: Who Will Get the Credits and When, Moderator, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, State of the Coast Conference, New Orleans, La. (2023)
- Coastal Planning, Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Environmental Justice, Co-Chair, The Seminar Group, Coastal Law in Louisiana, New Orleans, LA (2022)
- Restoration Banking – An Idea Whose Time has Come, Panelist, Law Seminars International, Ecosystem Restoration (2021)
- Emerging Legal Conflicts: Future Settlement Potential and Framework for Coastal Landloss Lawsuits, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, State of the Coast Conference, New Orleans, La. (2021)
- Project Proponent and Agency Talk on FAST-41 Benefits & FAST-41 Q&AP, Panelist – FAST-41: Your Tailored Roadmap for Infrastructure Project Permitting, First Annual Stakeholder Engagement Forum, Washington, D.C. (2019)
- Coastal Project Development – Public and Private, Faculty, The Seminar Group, Coastal Law in Louisiana, New Orleans, La. (2019)
- FAST-41 and the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council: Progress to Date and Next Steps, Testimony before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, Washington, D.C., June 27, 2018
- Private Investment in Coastal Restoration, Faculty, The Seminar Group, Coastal Law in Louisiana, New Orleans, La. (2018)
- Coastal Restoration and Streamlining the Federal Permitting Process, Presenter, Louisiana State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section Annual Seminar, New Orleans, La. (2018)
- Financing the Future: Identifying Funding Options for Coastal Restoration and Adaptation Plans, Panelist, Restore America’s Estuaries 8th National Summit on Coastal and Estuarine Restoration and 25th Biennial Meeting of the Coastal Society, New Orleans, La. (2016)
- BP Oil Spill Program, Guest Faculty, Seton Hall Law School, New Orleans Winter Study Session, New Orleans, La. (2012 and 2013)
- Litigation in the Gulf: Enforcement Update, Panelist, ABA Section of Litigation and Criminal Justice, Miami, Fl. (2011)
- Gulf Oil Spill Litigation, Panelist, ABA Toxic Torts and Environmental Law, Santa Fe, NM, (2011)
- Natural Resource Damages: The State and NOAA Step Forward, Presenter, 12th Annual Environmental Conference on Law, Science and the Public Interest, Tulane University School of Law, New Orleans, La. (2007)
- Lingering Relevance of the Coastal Zone Management Act to Energy Development in our Nation’s Coastal Waters. 24 Tul. Envtl. L.J. 73 (Kalen, Seidemann, Wilkins, Terrell) (2010)
- How Do We Deal With This Mess? A Primer for State and Local Governments on Navigating the Legal Complexities of Debris Issues Following Mass Disasters, 61(4) University of Miami Law Review 1135 (2007) (Seidemann, Terrell, and Matchett)
