Emma Elizabeth "Bessie" Antin Daschbach

Bessie Antin Daschbach spearheads the firm's multi-disciplinary Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) team, helping clients and the firm navigate ESG issues in support of sustainable growth.

Bessie's long record in high-risk litigation strongly positions her to anticipate and resolve client ESG issues. She began her career as a trial and appellate lawyer and has accumulated more than twenty years of experience in litigation and arbitration around environmental, international, commercial, and construction disputes. She has helped Louisiana landowners resolve claims against some of the largest oil and gas operators in land and groundwater contamination cases. She also led the landmark Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority–East case against nearly 100 oil and gas companies.

For over two decades, Bessie has steered her clients' cases to a successful resolution. She applies that deep experience to orient clients towards proactive ESG solutions, including mitigating environmental and social risks.

Before joining the firm, Bessie handled construction and commercial litigation at a national New Orleans-based firm and a full-service firm in New York City. For more than ten years, Bessie managed the environmental practice at another New Orleans-based firm and was instrumental in launching the firm's international arbitration practice. She also worked with the International Labor Organization in Bangkok, the United Nations Legal Affairs Codification Division, and the Open Society Justice Initiative in New York City.

Bessie holds a certificate in Sustainable Capitalism & ESG from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Executive Education, and she is a long-standing adjunct environmental law professor at Tulane University School of Law.

• Louisiana State Bar Association
  • Environmental Law Section
• New York State Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association

• Professional
  • Recognized as "Lawyer of the Year" by The Best Lawyers in America© for Environmental Law in New Orleans, 2023
  • Selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© for Environmental Law; Litigation – Environmental, 2022 – 2023
  • Recognized on the Super Lawyers list by Louisiana Super Lawyers, 2022
  • Recognized as "Best Lawyers in New Orleans" by Biz New Orleans, 2021
  • Selected as Fellow by the American College of Environmental Lawyers, 2021
  • Recognized by Best Lawyers® for Environmental Law and Litigation, 2017 – 2020
  • Named to the "Women of the Year" list by New Orleans CityBusiness, 2016
  • Named to the "Leaders in Law" list by New Orleans CityBusiness, 2015
  • Named a "Top Lawyer" by New Orleans Magazine, 2014 – 2015
  • Selected as Fellow by Loyola University Institute of Politics, 2015
• Academic
  • Columbia Law School
    • Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar
  • Tulane Law School
    • Order of the Coif
    • Civil Law Studies Award
    • McGlinchey Scholar

Bessie is an adjunct professor at Tulane University Law School, where she teaches Coastal and Wetlands Law. She is also a frequent lecturer at Loyola University School of Law, the Louisiana State Bar Association, and the New Orleans Bar Association.

Recent industry presentations include:

• Panelist, "Environment: Claims, Regulation and Compliance," Global Access Week 2023, London, U.K., March 8, 2023
• Panelist, "D&O: ESG and Other Risks," Global Access Week 2023, London, U.K., March 8, 2023
• "USA-CUBA Key Environmental Issues: Lessons Learned - Lessons Shared, Community Enforcement of Environmental Laws," American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL/FANJ), Havana, Cuba, February 9-10, 2023
• "ESG: What is it and why you (and your clients) should know," New Orleans Bar Association By Young Lawyers, Procrastinators' Programs CLE For Young Lawyers, New Orleans, Louisiana, December 21, 2022

• "ESG: What Is the Outlook?," The American College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL), January 11, 2023

Media Mentions

• "Hinshaw Taps Ex-Jones Swanson Head To Lead ESG Team," Law360 Pulse, February 1, 2023
• "Wake Up Call," Bloomberg Law, January 31, 2023

• Salon22, Charter Member and General Counsel, 2022 – present
• American Heart Association, 2023 Go Red for Women Executive Leadership Team, 2022 – present