Trudy D. Fisher

Practice Areas

Environmental; Economic Development; Disaster Assistance; Catastrophic Events and Major Claims

Career

Trudy D. Fisher is a member of the Regulatory & Government Relations Team. Trudy’s primary focus throughout her career has been environmental law; a career which extends across private practice, service as Mississippi’s chief environmental regulator, and as General Counsel to Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

As Executive Director of MDEQ from 2007 to June 30, 2014, Trudy led an agency of over 400 professionals and support staff in the wake of two of the southeast region’s most devastating disasters – Hurricane Katrina and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. With MDEQ in a lead role in both disasters, Trudy forged strong relationships with numerous federal and state agencies, local, state and federal officials, non-profit organizations, and the public.

In November 2014, Trudy returned to private practice at Butler Snow, where she maintains a broad environmental regulatory and litigation practice as well as a governmental practice. She uses her skills and experiences to create synergistic partnerships with a wide array of stakeholders to identify, evaluate, problem solve and implement solutions that are designed to produce the greatest measurable results.

She is adept at understanding and navigating regulatory and compliance structures in a way that promotes project momentum and buy-in. She maintains and utilizes key relationships, which she uses to represent private, public, and non-profit organizations. Trudy maintains an active alumni membership in the Environmental Council of States, an organization comprised of state and federal environmental officials. She is a recognized authority on emergency response, environmental programs and activities and is a frequent presenter at professional seminars since 2010. She obtained her J.D. from the University of Mississippi and is admitted to the Mississippi Bar and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi.

Professional Memberships

Environmental Council of the States (ECOS); American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy and Resources; Mississippi Bar Association, Section on Natural Resources, Energy and Environmental Law: Past President

Personal

University of Mississippi, J.D., 1985; Mississippi University for Women, B.S, 1982