Tracie Renfroe > King & Spalding LLP > Houston, United States > Lawyer Profile

With experts located on both coasts, as well as in key Southern cities, including Houston and Atlanta, King & Spalding LLP is well-positioned to represent clients in high-exposure and high-profile groundwater, waste, soil, water, air, and climate cases throughout the country, including in venues considered to be the most plaintiff friendly. Indeed, a particular strength of the firm is its ability and willingness to try cases, working up persuasive narratives to present before juries, in part due to the firm’s familiarity and in-depth underlying knowledge of often highly complex scientific and technical issues. Noted not only for her subject matter expertise and procedural nous, including as coordinating national counsel on large scale consolidated disputes, New York-based partner Kristen Fournier is also highly attuned to jury demographics and trends, tailoring her advocacy before the courtroom to suit on cases involving asbestos and chemical exposure, in particular. In Houston, Tracie Renfroe  is well-versed in effectively developing litigation strategies for clients in the energy, manufacturing, and pharma sectors; she has particular expertise advising clients in relation to groundwater and drinking water contamination. Accomplished senior trial lawyer Robert Meadows is also recommended for his energy-related toxic tort expertise, while at the more junior end of the spectrum  Elizabeth Taber, also based in Houston, continues to thrive on behalf of energy and oilfield clients including in the defense of groundwater contamination lawsuits. San Francisco-based partner Matthew Blaschke co-heads the team alongside Fournier and has expertise across a range of toxic and environmental consolidated private litigation, as well as in relation to government investigations and enforcement actions.

The trial and global disputes; government matters team at King & Spalding LLP offers coast-to-coast expertise and is led by Washington DC’s Granta Nakayama, New York’s Kristen Fournier, San Francisco’s Matt Blaschke and Tracie Renfroe in Houston. The firm fields multidisciplinary groups to advise on litigation and emerging issues, such as forever chemicals, climate change, environmental justice, renewable fuels and ESG matters. Renfroe acts for energy and industrial clients on contamination, toxic tort and product liability cases, and is experienced in international arbitration. Atlanta’s Douglas Henderson is notable for his experience in toxic and mass torts litigation and property rights disputes, while Peter Hsiao in Los Angeles has 34 years’ trial experience, with a focus on environmental and natural resources cases. Recently, Shannon Kasley and Jeremiah Anderson left the firm, as did Megan Nishikawa.

Counting prominent oil and gas corporations, including Chevron and ConocoPhilips, among its key roster of clients, the trial and global disputes team at King & Spalding LLP handles litigation arising from high-end lawsuits surrounding climate change attribution, environmental justice, decommissioning and further disputes concerning the energy transition. Other key areas of expertise include toxic torts, trade secrets, royalties and administrative agency litigation. The team is led from Houston by Tracie Renfroe, who acts on toxic tort, environmental and commercial disputes civil jury trials, class actions and arbitrations, while San Francisco-based Charles Correll specializes in environmental litigation and mass torts on both a domestic and international scale. Andrew Stakelum handles onshore and offshore litigation, with unique experience supporting energy companies operating on the Gulf Coast, while Elizabeth Taber represents clients in the oilfield services industry in high-stakes litigation involving catastrophic injuries, environmental contamination and mass torts. Houston-based Robert Meadows, who represents clients across state and federal courts, is another key contact in the group.