December 2021
Hall participates at The Foundation’s board meeting
Professor Keith Hall participated in the fourth quarter meeting of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law on December 17, 2021. The Foundation, formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, is “an educational, non-profit organization dedicated to the scholarly and practical study of all aspects of natural resources and energy law.”
Revised casebook coming soon
Professor Keith Hall and Professor Emeritus Patrick H. Martin, along with co-authors, submitted the manuscript for a revised edition of their casebook, The Law of Oil and Gas, which is published by the Foundation Press.
LSU provides continuing education in mineral law
Professor Keith Hall spoke on the topic “Recent Developments in Mineral Law” at the LSU Continuing Legal Educations’ “By-the-Hour CLE” Program in December.
November 2021
Professor speaks at programs in Texas and Louisiana
Professor Keith Hall provided an “Energy Litigation Update” at the Institute for Energy Law’s 20th Annual Energy Litigation Conference in Houston, Texas on November 3, 2021. In addition, he spoke on “Recent Developments in Mineral Law” at LSU’s Continuing Education Seminar in Bossier City, Louisiana on November 5, 2021.
October 2021
Professors speak at annual Oil & Gas short course and other events
Professor Keith Hall and emeritus Professor Pat Martin spoke at the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Oil & Gas Short Course in Westminster, Colorado. Professor Hall spoke on “Implied Covenants in Oil & Gas Leases” on October 18, 2021 and Professor Pat Martin spoke on “Oil & Gas Conservation Laws” on October 19, 2021. Professor Hall also served as Chair of the Short Course. In addition, Professor Hall spoke on Recent Developments in Mineral Law at LSU’s Continuing Legal Education Seminar in Lafayette, Louisiana on October 22, 2021.
Law Center students attend Oil & Gas short course in Colorado
Four LSU Law School students—James Duck, Ryanne Flanders, Meredith Smith, and Victoria Wiktor attended the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Oil & Gas Short Course in Westminster, Colorado from October 18-22, 2021. LSU Law School had more students in attendance than any other school.
Seven Law Center students attend energy conference in Austin, Texas
LSU Law School student—Tyler Bergeron, Will Eunice, Manning Greene, Leigh Anne Lloveras, Connor O’Brien, Charles Peterson, and Dave Storment—attended the Institute for Energy Law’s Young Energy Professionals Conference in Austin, Texas October 21-22, 2021. LSU Law School had more students in attendance than any other school.
Hall attends Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation’s Board of Directors meeting
Professor Keith Hall, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, attended the organization’s quarterly meeting of its Board of Directors in Denver on October 1, 2021.
LSU Law Center students (from left to right) who attended Young Energy Professionals Conference in Austin, Texas: Connor O’Brien, Manning Greene, Will Eunice, Dave Storment, Leigh Anne Lloveras, Tyler Bergeron, and Charles Peterson.
September 2021
Professor Joe Schremmer from the University of New Mexico gives guest lecture to LSU Law students
Schremmer gives “Bringing Rockies to the Bayou” guest lecture at LSU
Professor Joe Schremmer of the University of New Mexico Law School gave the 2021 Bringing the Rockies to the Bayou Guest Lecture on the topic of subsurface property rights on Friday, September 17, 2021. Nearly 30 students attended. The day before, Professor Schremmer made a presentation to the LSU Law School faculty on a law review article that he has authored on this subject. Professor Schremmer’s visit was sponsored by LSU’s John P. Laborde Energy Law Center, with a significant portion of the expense of the visit being paid by a grant from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.
Hall and Canfield speak to Petroleum Engineering students about legal issues relating to CCS
Professor Keith Hall and Blake Canfield—an LSU Law alumnus who is General Counsel for the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources—spoke to students in an LSU petroleum engineering class about legal issues relevant to carbon capture and sequestration on the evening of September 22, 2021. Hall and Canfield focused on subsurface property rights issues, but also touched on regulatory issues.
Bryner speaks at conference in Brazil
Professor Bryner spoke at a virtual conference hosted by the Instituto o Direito por um Planeta Verde (Law for a Green Planet Institute) in Brazil on Saturday, Sept. 25. The conference is the longest-running environmental law gathering in the country, now in its 26th year, and reaches an audience of environmental law practitioners, prosecutors, academics, judges, and others throughout Brazil. Professor Bryner’s lecture was on the Theory and Practice of Environmental Rule of Law, connecting human rights and environmental protection.
LSU Energy Law Club organizes
LSU Law School students have formed an Energy Law Club, which held its inaugural meeting on September 30, 2021 to plan activities for the remainder of the academic year. The Club is led by Co-Presidents Leigh Anne Lloveras and Cory Robinson.
August 2021
Substantial increase in students taking energy and environmental law courses
The Fall 2021 semester began at LSU Law School on August 16. The number of students enrolled in energy and environmental law courses is the highest in several years. The enrollment is
- 68 students in Introduction to Environmental Law (Professor Nick Bryner)
- 67 students in Mineral Rights (Professor Keith Hall)
- 26 students in International Petroleum Transactions (Professor Hall)
- 20 students in International Environmental Law Seminar (Professor Bryner)
- 2 students in Independent Supervised Research on energy law topics (Professor Hall)
July 2021
Professor opens an Environmental Law conference in Mexico
Professor Nick Bryner served as Program Coordinator and made introductory remarks at the Inter-American Environmental Law Congress in Mexico City, Mexico, from July 8-9, organized by the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law.
Hall re-elected to RMMLF Board of Directors
Professor Keith Hall was elected to a serve a second term on the Board of Directors of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation at the organization’s annual Board of Trustees meeting on July 16, 2021.
June 2021
Professor Hall named inaugural Nesser Family Chair in Energy Law
LSU Law Center Dean Lee Ann Lockridge appointed Professor Keith Hall to be the inaugural Nesser Family Chair in Energy Law, effective June 21, 2021. This endowed chair was created by LSU Law Center through the generosity of alumnus John T. Nesser and his family, with the support of the Louisiana Board of Regents.
Professor speaks on carbon capture and storage
Professor Keith Hall spoke about property law and oil and gas law issues raised by carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects. His presentation was part of a panel discussion on CCS at the 42nd Annual Energy & Mineral Law Institute on June 22, 2021 in Memphis, Tennessee. The CCS panel also included James Curry of Babst Calland, who spoke about regulatory issues, and Michael Platner of Van Ness Feldman, who spoke about tax issues.
LSU Energy Law students receive scholarships from Energy & Mineral Law Foundation
Two students enrolled in the Energy Law & Policy Certificate program at LSU—Marisa Del Turco and Valkyrie Buffa—have received scholarships from the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year.
LSU Energy Law student and LSU alum co-author paper on utility-scale solar
Valkyrie Buffa, an LSU Law School student who is enrolled in the Energy Law and Policy Certificate program, co-authored a 48-page research paper entitled “Establishing Utility-Scale Solar Farms: Federal Involvement”. The paper was published in May by Resources for the Future, a highly regarded, D.C.-based think tank that focuses on natural resource and energy issues. Ms. Buffa worked on the paper during an internship with Resources for the Future, which was sponsored by the John P. Laborde Energy Law Center. The other co-authors of the paper were Lindsay Rich (a 2020 graduate of LSU Law School) and Arthur Fraas, a visiting fellow at Resources for the Future.
LSU Energy Law student awarded scholarship by Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
LSU Law School student Valkyrie Buffa was awarded a scholarship for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, in recognition of her interest in and diligent pursuit of legal studies relating to natural resources and energy. Ms. Buffa is enrolled in the Energy Law and Policy Certificate program at LSU.
LSU Energy Law students receive scholarships from Association of International Petroleum Negotiators
Two students enrolled in the Energy Law & Policy Certificate program at LSU—Tiffany Chaney and Valkyrie Buffa—have received scholarships from the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year. These scholarships represent two of ten scholarships that AIPN granted worldwide for the upcoming year. Professor Keith Hall stated, “AIPN has student chapters at fifteen universities around the world, plus about 30 schools have professors on AIPN’s Education Advisory Board, so it is quite an honor for our LSU students to have earned two of the ten scholarships awarded worldwide.”
May 2021
LSU Law students graduate with Energy Law & Policy Certificate
The Paul M. Hebert Law Center held its commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 15 for the Class of 2021 and the Class of 2020. Among those graduates, nine 2021 graduates received their Energy Law & Policy Certificate, and six 2020 graduates received their Energy Law & Policy Certificate. Congratulations to the following graduates:
2021 graduates: 2020 graduates:
George Day Edward Brummal IV
Albert Deravin James Curtis
Sara Duffy Miles Hesterly
Matthew Greene Samantha Kennedy
Cameron King Daniel Snellings
Jeffrey Knighton, Jr. Patrick Talley III
Braedon Morrow
Nathan Mulvihill
Jennifer Wright
Professor referenced in article on Louisiana Supreme Court decision
Professor Keith Hall was quoted in a May 14, 2021 AP story on a recent Louisiana Supreme Court decision relating to the Bayou Bridge pipeline.
April 2021
68th Annual Mineral Law Institute at LSU
The LSU Law Center held its 68th Annual Mineral Law Institute April 15-16, 2021. The Annual Institute addressed numerous issues relating to Louisiana, Texas, and U.S. oil and gas law. Professor Keith Hall spoke on the topic “Who Owns Produced Water and Any Substances Dissolved or Suspended in It” at the 68th Annual Mineral Law Institute on April 16, 2021.
Professor speaks at conference
Professor Keith Hall spoke on the topic “Recent Developments in Oil and Gas Law” at the Institute for Energy Law’s 72nd Annual Oil and Gas Conference on Thursday, April 22, 2021.
March 2021
Liskow & Lewis lecture addresses the ‘”clean energy revolution”
The Laborde Energy Law Center hosted its Annual Liskow & Lewis Visiting Professorship in Energy Law Lecture on March 25, 2021. Professor James Van Nostrand of West Virginia Law School addressed the topic, “Impact of the Clean Energy Revolution on the Prospects for the Fossil Fuel Industry: Go Green or Go Home?”
Professor speaks at conference
Professor Keith Hall spoke on “Implied Covenants in Oil and Gas Leases” at the University of Texas “Fundamentals of Oil, Gas, and Energy Law Conference” on March 25, 2021.
Bryner named Deputy Chair of IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law
Professor Nick Bryner was named as the Deputy Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. He has served on the Steering Committee for the Commission since 2016 and will be taking over the role as Deputy Chair until September 2021. In addition, his new article, “Never Look Back: Non-Regression in Environmental Law,” has been accepted for publication in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law (forthcoming fall 2021).
Professor and students hold a law and policy “watch party”
Professor Keith Hall and several LSU Law Center students who are enrolled in the Laborde Energy Law Center’s Energy Law & Policy Certificate program held a “watch party” to view a webinar on legal and policy issues relating to energy storage projects.
February 2021
Professor Keith Hall is a co-author of the fourth edition of the book International Petroleum Law and Transactions, which was published in a traditional printed format, after having been published last autumn in an e-book format.
The LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources held a Symposium, “Pollution Solutions: A Symposium on Carbon Capture and Sequestration,” on Friday, February 5, 2021. During one of the symposium’s presentations, a panel that included Professor Keith Hall, Emeritus Professor Patrick H. Martin, and adjunct Professor Patrick S. Ottinger addressed oil and gas issues raised by carbon capture and storage projects.
January 2021
Professor Keith Hall was interviewed regarding natural gas issues on the “This Climate Podcast” at Indiana University on January 14, 2021.
Professor Keith Hall was interviewed on January 14 by Court TV regarding the BP P.L.C. v. Baltimore case that was argued before the United States Supreme Court this month.
Professor Keith Hall spoke on the subject “Communication with Opposing Counsel and Landowners” at the “Annual Mid-Winter Education Webinar” of the San Antonio Association of Professional Landmen on January 21, 2021.
