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W. Abram
Orlansky

Position
Partner
Office
Jackson

Abram Orlansky is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group and a member of the environmental litigation team.


Abram guides clients through the full life cycle of environmental matters, from permitting and regulatory compliance through enforcement defense and litigation. He also maintains a cybersecurity practice focused on data breaches in the healthcare sector.

Abram represents businesses with interests and operations across a wide range of industries. A proven, effective litigator, he draws on his dispute-resolution experience to also advise clients on the corporate and regulatory dimensions of the issues they face. Among other agencies, he regularly appears before the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the US Army Corps of Engineers, as well as represents businesses, executives, and owners in state and federal courts across Mississippi and the southeastern United States.

His environmental work spans all phases of his clients’ products and projects and includes all aspects of permitting, compliance, and dispute resolution. Abram has shepherded major projects through the Corps of Engineers permitting process, managed subsurface investigations and regulatory processes at contaminated properties, litigated claims arising from the discharge of pollutants, and overseen site closures and remediation efforts. He has also counseled clients through significant contamination events, including a major site cleanup that followed a train derailment.

Over the course of his career, Abram has built working relationships with regulators and officials at the federal, state, and local levels. Knowing whom to call — and being known in return — allows him to present his clients’ side of the story clearly, credibly, and directly to elected and appointed officials as well as the stakeholders and communities they represent and serve.

Alongside his environmental practice, Abram counsels healthcare industry and other clients on cybersecurity, data privacy, breach notifications, and other actions in response to cyberattacks. He helps clients meet their legal obligations following breaches of protected health information under HIPAA while managing the public-facing dimensions of incident response and remediation.

Abram began his legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable Rhesa H. Barksdale of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, an experience that grounds the careful, analytical approach he brings to every matter.

Noteworthy

  • Chambers USA, Environment (2026)
  • The Best Lawyers in America®, Litigation – Environmental (2026); Environmental Law, Litigation – Environmental (2023–2026)
  • Mississippi Economic Council, Leadership Mississippi program, participant (2017)

Publications

  • "WE LAW – Environmental policy under a new administration: U-Turn ahead?" Mississippi Business Journal, January 14, 2021
  • "Environmental Transactions and Brownfields Hot News for May," American Bar Association, June 5, 2019
  • "Environmental Transactions and Brownfields Hot News for March," American Bar Association, April 5, 2019
  • "Patient Health Information Breaches: What Now?" Journal of the Mississippi State Medical Association, Vol. 57, No. 8, July 31, 2016

Presentations

  • "Environmental Law in Mississippi," Mississippi Law Update, May 3, 2019

Memberships

  • Air & Waste Management Association, Mississippi Chapter, Vice-Chair (2021)
  • Beth Israel Congregation
  • Capital Area Bar Association
  • Henry S. Jacobs Camp, Board of Trustees
  • Jewish Cinema Mississippi Film Festival
  • The Mississippi Bar, YDL Board Member (2018–2019)
  • St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Board of Trustees
  • Stewpot Community Services, Board of Directors
Jackson
Suite 300
3100 N State St
Jackson, MS 39216
D: 601.949.4622
F: 601.949.4653
Emailaorlansky@joneswalker.com

Education

  • Harvard Law School
    JD, cum laude, 2012
  • University of Texas
    BA, with highest honors, Government and History, 2005

Bar Admissions

  • Mississippi

Court Admissions

  • US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi
  • US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

Related Practices

  • Environmental & Toxic Torts
  • Environmental Enforcement & Litigation
  • Healthcare
  • Privacy, Data Strategy, and Artificial Intelligence

Related Industries

  • Energy, Environmental & Natural Resources
  • Healthcare Industry
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