Kenneth K. Orie, JD, LLM, DrCL, RN

Kenneth K. Orie is an environmental and occupational public health attorney and a registered nurse whose work focuses on advancing individual and community health through the integration of legal advocacy and clinical nursing practice. His legal career has centered on litigating environmental and occupational health harms, including major cases arising from the Di-N-Propyl Amine chemical release in Harvey, Louisiana (2004) - litigation that spanned nine years, the Hurricane Katrina disaster (2005), and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill (2010). 

Dr. Orie has also litigated occupational injury and illness cases before Louisiana's highest courts, including the Louisiana Supreme Court in Robinson, et al. v. Louisiana Department of Education, Case No. 2021-CC-00332 (May 25, 2021), and the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in Peters v. Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc., Case No. 2009-CA-0694 (September 23, 2009).

In addition to his legal practice, Dr. Orie has served as a bedside registered nurse in a local hospital, providing frontline patient care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He currently volunteers as a registered nurse at a local outpatient mental health clinic, continuing his commitment to improving access to healthcare for underserved populations.

Dr. Orie's interdisciplinary background in law and nursing enables him to engage students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds by connecting theory with practical, real-world experience in both undergraduate and graduate education. His expertise extends beyond the classroom through active community engagement, where he collaborates with local stakeholders to address environmental and occupational health challenges. These partnerships create meaningful experiential learning opportunities that enable students to integrate evidence-based practice with academic instruction while addressing contemporary public health issues.

Drawing upon his combined experience in law and clinical nursing, Dr. Orie inspires students to understand how legal systems, public policy, and frontline healthcare intersect to influence health outcomes. He equips students with the critical thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills necessary to advocate for communities, shape public policy, and advance health equity. Throughout his career, Dr. Orie has consistently bridged scholarship, teaching, and professional service, translating practical experience into effective pedagogy while contributing to improvements in public health law, policy, practice, and population health outcomes.

Dr. Orie's research is translational in nature, focusing on environmental and occupational health and safety policy and practice. His scholarly work examines the intersection of law, public health, environmental governance, and occupational safety. Selected publications include:

• "Land Use Policy and Governance: Louisiana Gulf Coast After Hurricane Katrina" (2010), Environmental Policy and Law, Vol. 40, No. 1.
• "Mental Stress-Induced Mental Injury under Louisiana State Workers' Compensation Law: Striking a Right Social Policy Balance" (2011), Disability Income & Work Injury Compensation eJournal, Vol. 3, Issue 9.
• "Law and Policy Aspects of Managing the Louisiana Coastal Environment in the Face of Global Climate Change Threats: Mitigation and Adaptation Imperatives" (2016–2017), Climate Change Law & Policy eJournal, Vol. 9, Issue 1.
• "Reframing Occupational Infectious Disease Control: COVID-19 and the Effects of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Decisions on Policy and Practice" (2024), Occupational Health eJournal, Vol. 4, Issue 54.
• "Does Delayed or Absent Admission Medication Reconciliation Contribute to Adverse Drug Events That Worsen Adult Inpatient Conditions?" (2021), East Jefferson General Hospital, Metairie, Louisiana (Continuing Medical Education Project).

Dr. Orie's scholarship reflects his longstanding commitment to advancing evidence-informed legal and health policy solutions that strengthen environmental health, occupational safety, healthcare quality, and health equity.