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Kaplan has described the past 18 months as “the longest and deepest chemical industry downturn in memory” for LyondellBasell. The same window saw the company’s 65-attorney legal department successfully resolve more than 65 lawsuits tied to a 2021 chemical release at the La Porte facility. Targeted, aggressive and efficient defense efforts produced a remarkable disposition tally : 45 cases dismissed on summary judgment, 20 settled at nuisance value, three resolved through indemnitors, fatality settlements recovered through coverage litigation, and a defense verdict in an OSHA trial.
Market Backdrop
The chemical sector has seen depressed margins through 2024 and into 2025. Petrochemical pricing has felt pressure from oversupply and weaker demand. Producers in North America, Europe and Asia have all faced narrower spreads. Kaplan’s framing of the period: “the longest and deepest chemical industry downturn in memory.” Capital allocation across the company tightened in response.
Defense Under Pressure
Forty-five cases left the La Porte docket on summary judgment. Twenty more settled at nuisance value. Three closed using indemnitor funds. Fatality settlements paid out, then came back through coverage litigation against the broker and excess insurer. Kaplan’s outside counsel for the matter came from Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing, the Houston litigation firm. AZA partner Kyle Poelker, who worked the matter alongside Mensing, described Kaplan as steady throughout: “As LYB’s outside counsel on this incident, we can testify firsthand to the thoughtful decisiveness that Jeff displayed when important strategic decisions arose.” AZA partner Todd Mensing and Poelker nominated Kaplan for the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award and said: “The results were exceptional, and unlike those seen by other companies facing similar claims. LYB was able to resolve those claims with little out-of-pocket money by leveraging legal arguments and trial readiness.” Mensing has tried more than 60 cases in his career.
Spending Discipline
Kaplan framed the budget posture during the downturn: he has had to be “extremely disciplined — even more so than usual — with every dollar we spend and every matter we handle.” That posture shaped the La Porte work and several other major matters running concurrently. The company finalized a multinational divestiture of chemical manufacturing sites in the UK, Spain, France and Germany. A French court awarded LYB $35 million in environmental remediation recovery from a prior owner of an acquired facility. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy awarded the company a multibillion-dollar feedstock supply contract. Kaplan’s own assessment of total out-of-pocket spend on the La Porte docket: “The total out of pocket spend, including attorneys’ fees, was well below what we had expected it would cost.”
Recognition
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook honored Kaplan’s department this month with the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Legal Department of the Year. A May 28 ceremony at the Four Seasons Hotel marked the recognition. The award follows the case dispositions Kaplan and his outside counsel produced during a stretch that strained chemical-industry budgets across the board.
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