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Centers, Institutes and Special Programs

Five centers and institutes focus scholarly research and public attention on a variety of relevant issues. In addition, the Law and Medicine Program, the only law school-based program devoted to public health issues, features a cooperative endeavor with Pennington Biomedical Center—one of the world’s finest nutrition research centers—addressing obesity and other public health issues.

The Center of Civil Law Studies

The Center of Civil Law Studies (CCLS) was established in 1965 to promote and encourage the scientific study of the civil law system, its history, structure, principles, and actualities. Its purpose or mission is to facilitate a better understanding and further development of the private law of the State of Louisiana and other civil law jurisdictions, particularly those of continental Europe and Latin America, through theoretical and practical activities, such as publications, translations, sponsorship of faculty and student exchanges, visiting scholars, seminars and lectures. The Center of Civil Law Studies promotes legal education by sponsoring foreign students who wish to avail themselves of the opportunity of studying a mixed legal system and American students who wish to expose themselves to other legal systems. Such programs take advantage of Louisiana’s natural position as an education center for international and comparative legal studies.

For further information on the center and its services, please contact Professor Olivier Moréteau, Director, Center of Civil Law Studies, LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Baton Rouge LA 70803-1000, or call 225-578-7831.

John P. Laborde Energy Law Center

In August 2012, the LSU Law Center created an academic center for comprehensive instruction and research in energy law. The LSU John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, the first such center in Louisiana, prepares lawyers to address the full range of 21st-century issues in the complex energy sector and to assume leadership roles in industry, government, nonprofits, and the academy.

For more information, please contact Professor Keith Hall, Director of the LSU John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, at khall@lsu.edu or 225-578-8847.

Mineral Law Institute

The Louisiana Mineral Law Institute was created in 1953 as an annual continuing legal education program. The goal of the Institute is to promote an understanding of Louisiana mineral law and facilitate its development through educational activities. In addition to consideration of important developments in the law of oil and gas at the annual program, the Mineral Law Institute sponsors other continuing education programs at the Law Center and cooperates with energy-related research and educational programs at Louisiana State University. Projects of the Mineral Law Institute presently being implemented include a publication of a periodic Louisiana Mineral Law Newsletter, publication of the proceedings of recent Mineral Law Institute programs, and sponsorship of student scholarships for mineral law studies. The planning and activities of the Mineral Law Institute are supported by Mineral Law Institute Council comprised of leading members of the oil and gas legal community of Louisiana and of other producing states.

For further information, please contact Professor Keith Hall, director, at the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Baton Rouge LA 70803-1000, or call 225-578-8709 or by email to khall@lsu.edu.

The Pugh Institute for Justice

The George W. and Jean H. Pugh Institute for Justice provides support for research and educational activities that promote justice for individuals in the administration of the criminal and civil justice systems in Louisiana and elsewhere. The Institute achieves its mission in partnership with the Louisiana Law Review, sponsoring symposia that foster publication and electronic distribution of related research. The Pugh Institute was founded in 1998.

For more information, sites.law.lsu.edu/pughinstitute

Louisiana State Law Institute

The Louisiana State Law Institute, directed by Professor William Crawford, engages in the continuous evaluation and elaboration of the state’s legal system. It includes many Law Center professors as members of its Council and as many of its key reporters and committee members. The Law Institute was chartered by the Louisiana legislature as an official law revision committee, law reform agency, and legal research agency for the State of Louisiana. The Institute is headquartered at the LSU Law Center and is representative of all branches of government and the entire legal profession.

For more information, www.lsli.org

Judicial College

The Judicial College, directed by Professor William Corbett, provides continuing education for the state’s judiciary. Topics including recent developments in juvenile law, tort law, civil law, criminal law, interdiction procedures, evidentiary/procedural issues in tort and first-degree murder cases, waiver of counsel, eyewitness perception and memory, and domestic and elder abuse were among the highlights of recent continuing legal education programs sponsored by the Judicial College for Louisiana’s judges. Over 900 members of the judiciary took part in sessions, which featured some 100 speakers. The College continued to issue its Criminal Law Newsletter and, in cooperation with the Louisiana District Judges’ Association, published the Louisiana Capital Crimes Bench Book.

For more information, www.lajudicialcollege.org