Catherine D. Little

At the outset of Catherine Little’s legal career, she received sage advice from her mentors that has held true:

• Listen and ask questions;

• Two heads are always better than one; and

• The best business development is good work.

She took those lessons to heart in her first assignment to assess release reporting requirements for an interstate pipeline company across multiple states, and that was the jumping-off point for the development of the preeminent oil and gas regulatory practice in the United States.

“It was my goal to learn as much as possible about how pipelines and LNG facilities operate and to understand the industry more broadly.” Little said. “This was my initial baseline for understanding how those factors and legal issues interrelate.”

That project put her on a trajectory for more work for the client and the industry as a whole. Her expertise was ultimately called upon to handle several major incidents involving both oil and gas pipelines. Those cases cast a brighter spotlight on her firm’s growing national practice.

Today, Little’s practice encompasses construction, operations, maintenance and inspection, incident response and security issues for oil and gas pipelines, associated storage and LNG facilities. She works with clients to address administrative enforcement actions and develop litigation strategies, and advises them on policy, legislative and rulemaking developments. 

Little and her team also manage compliance audits as well as internal and governmental investigations. The latter involves the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice. 

Little began her career practicing environmental regulatory law after earning her J.D. from the Tulane University Law School. While she had no particular aspirations toward working in oil and gas upon graduation from law school, she was quickly intrigued by the dynamic nature of the industry through her work with pipeline operators.

“The dynamic nature of the industry is one of the initial reasons I was drawn to the work,” she said. “It is an enduring attribute of the industry, which continues to hold my interest and challenge me, as do our exceptional clients, every day. The energy transition, in particular, has presented many opportunities and likely will continue to do so.”

The challenges Little has faced are similar to many in the top tiers of their professions: managing a full-time legal career and meeting the needs of clients alongside family life. She is married and has three adult children who live all along the Eastern Seaboard.

“I am still encountering and (hopefully) overcoming [those challenges],” she said. 

Her own parents were her primary early influencers.

“They were both educators and big proponents of a liberal arts education followed by graduate skills for a marketable trade,” Little said. “They also worked very hard to raise and send five kids to college, and we all worked hard to make them proud.”

Her management philosophy is to lead by example in terms of dedication to clients, providing the highest quality of work, and communicating effectively, both with clients and members of her team. “And, above all, to be human.”

Little encourages collaboration and a team approach with those she works with. That includes regular feedback and providing a clear path for team members to contribute and succeed.

“That said, I believe that my team—including Annie Cook and Mandi Moroz—motivates me perhaps more than I motivate them,” she said.

Little advises young professionals in the legal end of the oil and gas industry much like her early mentors advised her:

“Listen, read, and learn—the building blocks of succeeding in just about anything, but particularly this industry with a rich history and an ever-changing global landscape.”

Check out the rest of Hart Energy's 2025 Women in Energy here.