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Daria Burgess Diaz
Areas of Emphasis:
• Commercial Litigation
• Oil and Gas Litigation
• Public Utility Regulation
• Toxic Tort, Environmental and Energy
Ms. Diaz joined Stone Pigman in 2003 and is a member of the firm. She has been practicing and teaching environmental law since 1986. Ms. Diaz represents local, national and international energy and industrial clients in litigation involving a wide variety of substantive areas including environmental litigation, toxic tort, oil and gas litigation, class actions, and commercial litigation. She has litigated a wide variety of environmental and energy law cases, including legacy oil field cases and cases involving solid waste disposal and recycling; underground storage tanks; coastal and wetlands issues; underground injection wells, land use and zoning; and hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal.
In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Diaz also handles environmental regulatory law, including permitting, compliance, enforcement, insurance, and transactional issues. She assists and counsels clients in permitting and enforcement actions before federal and state agencies, on release notification issues, and on environmental audits, and has participated in rulemaking efforts at both the federal and state level. Ms. Diaz advises clients on environmental matters that arise in property and business transactions and routinely advises clients on environmental investigations and remedial corrective actions.
Representative Matters
Defense of numerous legacy oilfield site lawsuits for major and independent oil and gas companies.
Defense of major oil and gas producer in royalty underpayment litigation.
Defense of major oil company in connection with an OPA cost recovery action and associated tort claims.
Representation of a refinery in connection with administrative enforcement actions brought by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
Counsel to several business and industrial clients–representation includes various environmental regulatory, adjudicatory, compliance, and permitting issues.
Defense of a large real estate developer in criminal and civil enforcement actions for alleged Clean Water Act violations.
Representation of a large landowner in a NEPA challenge to a federal siting proposal.
Advised a marine terminal facility on Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permitting issues.
Advised a solid waste company on permitting and associated regulatory issues in connection with the operation of a landfill.
Provided advice on the applicability of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Oil Pollution Act, including permit and permit transfer issues in connection with an asset purchase.
Defense of a large municipality in an action filed by the United States under CERCLA seeking access to property for purposes of response action.
Counsel to numerous clients on environmental issues associated with real estate transactions, asset transfers, and business acquisitions. Education
Ms. Diaz received her law degree from Florida State University College of Law in 1986, where she was selected to the Order of the Coif, and served as Articles and Notes Editor of the Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law. She also completed a Master of Laws in Energy and Environment in 1993 at Tulane Law School. She received her undergraduate degree, with high honors, from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1983. Professional and Civic Activities
Ms. Diaz is admitted to the bars of Louisiana and Florida. She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, and she is past chair of the Environmental Law Section of the Louisiana State Bar Association. Ms. Diaz is also a member of the Baton Rouge Bar Association. Ms. Diaz taught environmental law at the Tulane Law School from 1990-96. She now serves on the adjunct faculty at the Tulane Law School where she teaches a class on Environmental Enforcement. Publications
Environmental Enforcement, Tulane Law School Spring Semester 2007.
Land Use and Environmental Group: The Role of the Private Sector in Redeveloping Major Areas Impacted by Catastrophic Events, American Bar Association Real Property and Probate Section, 17th Annual Real Property Symposium, San Diego, CA 2006.
Recent Developments Environmental Law, Louisiana Bar Journal, Vol. 52, No. 1, June 2004.
Panelist LSU Environmental Round Table: Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Update, April 29, 2004.
Recent Developments Environmental Law, Louisiana Bar Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1, June 2003.
Solid Waste Issues and Current Developments, March 2002, sponsored by the Tulane Law School Environmental Institute.
"Negotiating EPA Compliance Agreements," March 2000, sponsored by the Tulane Law School Environmental Institute.
"Safe Drinking Water Act, Amendments of 1986 - Source Water Protection," February 1999, sponsored by the Tulane Law School Environmental Institute.
"Environmental Enforcement," February 1998, sponsored by the Tulane Law School Environmental Institute.
"Environmental Justice," December 1997, sponsored by the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association.
Environmental Advocacy and Litigation Seminar, Tulane Law School 1994-1996.
"Administrative Process and Procedure - Permitting and Enforcement," February 1997, sponsored by the Tulane Law School Environmental Institute.
"Citizen Participation in DEQ Permitting and Enforcement Proceedings," March 1995, sponsored by the Louisiana State Bar Association.
Pollution Control and Environmental Regulation for Geologists, November 1992, University of New Orleans.
"Environmental Justice," Chapter 30, Louisiana Environmental Law Handbook, Lawyers Cooperative Publishing (2000).
"Trashing the Final Frontier" An Examination of Space Debris From a Legal Perspective, 6 Tulane Environmental Law Journal 369 (1993).
"Pro Se Litigants in the Federal Courts," The Specter of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, (co-author) The Justice Professional, Vol. 6, Number 1 (Winter 1992).
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