Laura Hanley Carlock

Special Counsel

Location
Houston
Phone number
(713) 355-5035

Laura Carlock’s practice focuses on environmental litigation. Laura’s experience also includes appellate and motions practice in complex commercial litigation.

Her work includes representation of state governments in seeking remedies for environmental contamination and restoration. She also serves as special counsel to state AGs in environmental actions related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination.

Prior to joining Kelley Drye, Laura was CEO and General Counsel for Rescued Pets Movement Inc., an animal-welfare nonprofit credited with saving the lives of more than 50,000 dogs and cats in just seven years from the Houston City Pound’s (BARC) euthanasia list.

Laura was a professional musician in Memphis for 10 years before moving to Houston for law school. While in law school, Laura was editor-in-chief of the University of Houston Law Review and graduated first in her class.

After law school, Laura clerked for Carolyn Dineen King, then-Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Laura was also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center, teaching both Remedies and Legal Research and Writing.

Serving as Special Counsel to the Attorney General of New Jersey representing the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in a series of actions related to statewide contamination by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including litigation brought against DuPont and Chemours related to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) contamination at and from their Chambers Works facility and several other industrial facilities in New Jersey, and also representing NJDEP in statewide litigation regarding aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF).

Representing the State of Ohio and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in litigation against DuPont and Chemours for decades-long discharges of 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.

Serving as Special Counsel to the State of New Mexico and New Mexico Environment Department in seeking remediation, costs, and damages arising from the Gold King Mine blowout and decades of mining waste contamination of the Animas and San Juan Rivers.

Named a ​“Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters for Texas Super Lawyers in 2006 and 2007.