About Karen Daniel Ancelet

Karen Daniel Ancelet earned her B.A. in history and classical civilization studies from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge in 1991 and her J.D. from the Paul M. Hebert Law School at Louisiana State University in 1994 where she was a member of the Order of the Coif, Phi Kappa Phi, and the LSU Law Center Hall of Fame.

Karen has spent her career as both a litigator and transactional attorney focusing on commercial and energy clients.  For her commercial clients, she has litigated all manner of contractual disputes and has extensive experience preparing purchase and sale, rental, and service agreements. In the representing energy companies, she handles a variety of upstream, midstream, and downstream matters. Karen provides general advice to clients on pre-litigation matters including responses to demands from royalty owners, working interest owners, and unleased mineral owners. Her litigation practice focuses on complex litigation involving mineral royalty disputes, joint operating agreements, conflicts over ownership of mineral interests, unleased owners, servitudes, and oilfield legacy matters. Karen has filed and managed multiple concursus and interpleader actions involving royalty and lien disputes. Karen also represents clients before the Louisiana State Mineral Board and Louisiana Department of Conservation and Energy in regulatory oil and gas matters. On the transactional side, she has worked with clients on preparing various types of royalty agreements, title opinions, leases, assignments, operating agreements, and gas contracts, along with liens and right-of-way agreements. 

Karen has served on the Advisory Council of the Mineral Law Institute at the LSU Law Center since 2021 and is a member of the Louisiana State, Lafayette Parish, and Jefferson Davis Parish Bar Associations. Karen is a native of Roanoke, Louisiana, but graduated high school from the Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches, Louisiana. She and her husband, Stuart, raised two children, a daughter, Jackie and a son, Clay and are avid LSU Tiger fans. Karen also enjoys tending to her many plants and serves as president of the Jennings Garden Club.