SHREVEPORT, La. – Kean Miller LLP announced the combination of its firm with Hargrove, Smelley & Strickland, adding five attorneys to its Shreveport office and further expanding its energy and oil and gas practice across the Gulf South. The combination took effect Jan. 31, 2026.
Joining Kean Miller are partners Paul A. Strickland, T. Issac Howell, Jonathan E. Love, and Jonathan J. Rose, along with attorney Catherine B. Kendall. The move establishes one of the region’s largest oil and gas legal teams, enhancing the firm’s capabilities in mineral title, regulatory, transactional, and energy-related litigation matters.
The integration strengthens Kean Miller’s footprint across Louisiana and Texas, extending from south Louisiana to the Haynesville Shale and from East Texas to the Permian Basin. The firm now includes a 10-attorney upstream and midstream transactional team operating from offices in Shreveport, Lafayette, and The Woodlands.
“We are fortunate to welcome these outstanding attorneys to our Shreveport office as we continue to strategically expand our energy sector capabilities,” said Managing Partner Linda Perez Clark. “Their collective experience, industry knowledge, and depth further strengthen our ability to provide high-quality legal counsel and exceptional client service to oil and gas clients across the region.”
Paul Strickland said the integration will allow the combined firm to better serve energy clients. “We are excited to combine our long-standing practice with Kean Miller and leverage the depth of resources the firm provides,” he said. “Together, we are positioned to serve energy clients throughout the region’s most important oil and gas markets.”
Kean Miller, founded more than four decades ago, operates with more than 240 attorneys across eight offices in Louisiana and Texas. The firm has been recognized on the National Law Journal’s NLJ 500 and Law360 Top 400 lists and holds Mansfield Certification for its commitment to diversity in leadership.
