Tonya L. Meier
Partner

My practice is driven by what clients need on any given day. Many of them are growing businesses that don’t have the internal resources necessary to solve complex legal problems that stand in the way of reaching their goals. They lean on me as an essential member of their team who can give each problem the immediate, hands-on attention it deserves and guide them to the right solution, whether it involves aggressive litigation or negotiating a fair compromise.

Tonya (Toni) Meier focuses her practice on resolving commercial disputes and challenges for real estate developers, landowners and a variety of other businesses, particularly in the areas of environmental law, land use, contract and employment disputes, fraud and DTPA violations. She spends the majority of her time advising clients and handling challenging litigation before state and federal courts, government agencies and municipalities throughout Texas. Toni is also well-equipped to advise clients and protect their interests in federal environmental proceedings in jurisdictions across the country.

Toni has guided developers and landowners to successful outcomes in numerous environmental investigations, enforcement actions and litigation matters involving soil, groundwater and air contamination. Escalation of these disputes is often unavoidable, but Toni always searches for practical ways to keep clients’ penalty liabilities in check and out of the courtroom. Her goal is to bring everyone to the table – former landowners, adjacent owners, the EPA regulators, state regulators and expert consultants – so they can fully assess the causes and extent of the contamination and identify a remediation solution that’s reasonable for everyone involved.

Clients rely on Toni to solve complicated land use problems, including condemnation and zoning issues that may cause costly delays – or even worse – prevent a project from moving forward at all. Unlike traditional litigation that ends in a settlement, on the courthouse steps or a tough battle at trial, resolving land use disputes through collaboration with the city, suburb or county allows Toni to create truly tangible results that are not only beneficial to her clients, but also fair to the municipalities and adjacent property owners that are impacted by the development. Whether the client is engaged in urban revitalization, industrial projects or development of raw land, Toni has the experience and knowledge to achieve her client’s goals by securing the zoning, permitting and approvals necessary in a cost-effective approach.

Representative Experience

Litigation

  • Represent companies and individuals in EPA, TCEQ and state agency enforcement matters.
  • Defend Municipal Utility Districts, public entities and landowners in condemnation matters.
  • Represent companies facing claims involving CERCLA, RECRA and Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act.
  • Defend companies in soil, groundwater, air and oilfield contamination cases.
  • Defend companies and individuals in product liability and toxic tort matters including pesticide, chemical, asbestos, silica sand, benzene and “black mold” exposure.

Transactional

  • Negotiate with municipalities on behalf of real estate developers and landowners in matters related to land use, permitting and project approval.
  • Represented the purchaser in $17 million purchase of three industrial sites in three different states totaling ~130 acres of land and ~350,000 sq. ft. of building improvements, including complicated environmental and shared use issues
  • Represented the founders of Chem32 in a $44 million sale of their membership interests to a subsidiary of PQ Group Holdings Inc. (NYSE: PQG). Click here for a press release. 
Thought Leadership / News
May 27, 2022 
 Speeches and Presentations
A Legal Guide to Selling Your Store

Retail Shippers Expo 2022

Honors
  • Selected by her peers for inclusion in Woodward/White, Inc.'s The Best Lawyers in America in the field of Environmental Litigation (2024)
  • Selected as a Best Lawyer in Dallas by D Magazine (2017, 2020 – 2021)
  • Named a "Super Lawyer" by Texas Super Lawyers (a Thompson Reuters company) as published in Texas Monthly (2014 – 2023)
Organizational Involvement

Professional Activities, Memberships & Affiliations

  • The American Bar Association
  • Dallas Bar Association
  • Served as an editor of the Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems Journal (1994 – 1996)
  • Participated in the International Law Symposium in Bordeaux, France (1994)

Community Activities, Memberships & Affiliations

  • Stewpot Alliance
    • Board member, 2011 – 2018
    • Chairperson, The Stewpot Alliance Annual Luncheon, 2012
  • Kappa Kappa Gamma Foundation Board Member, 2018 – present
  • Leadership Dallas Class Graduate, 2011
  • One of 11 women selected to participate in documentary in India in 2009 entitled Friendly Captivity
Education
  • J.D., The Boyd School of Law at the University of Iowa (1996)
  • B.A., magna cum laude, Monmouth College (1991)
Bar Admission
  • Texas
Court Admissions
  • United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas
  • United States District Court, Northern District of Texas
  • United States District Court, Southern District of Texas
  • United States District Court, Western District of Texas
  • United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
When I Feel Most At Home
  • Active yoga practitioner for 14 years
  • Painting – watercolor and pastels
  • Avidly reading – mainly contemporary fiction; Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors
  • Traveling – I have visited 49 states and 14 countries