(from left to right): Professor Emeritus Patrick Martin, Professor Keith Hall, and Kristi McCarthy, Chair of the Advisory Board for the Institute for Energy Law
In recognition of his distinguished career teaching and practicing in energy law, LSU Law Professor Keith Hall was selected by the Institute for Energy Law to present the Deans of Oil and Gas Practice Lecture at the 76th Annual Energy Law Conference.
Hall delivered his lecture, “Ruminations on Oil & Gas Law and a Career in it,” on Friday, Feb. 14 in front of hundreds of colleagues, LSU Law alumni, and 11 LSU Law students who accompanied him to the conference. The students included Geno Albini, Jada Allen, Garrett Corning, Piper Cotton, Ramon Hedges, Jazmin King, John Lejeune, Dylan McHugh, Nima Miri, Fernando Tharuka, and Noah Williams.
“It was an honor to deliver the Deans of Oil and Gas Practice Lecture at the Institute for Energy Law’s 76th Annual Energy Law Conference,” said Hall, who holds the Nesser Family Chair in Energy Law at LSU Law and serves as director of both the Energy Law Center and Mineral Law Institute. “Thank you to IEL for inviting me to be this year’s lecturer. I had a wonderful experience presenting to so many of my esteemed colleagues and former and current LSU Law students.”
In his lecture, Hall encouraged new and aspiring legal professionals to get involved in legal education organizations like the Institute for Energy Law, remain open to career opportunities, and consider opportunities that require them to step out of their comfort zone.
Hall selected LSU Law Professor Emeritus Patrick Martin—whom he credits for connecting him with the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center—to introduce him before the lecture. Martin was also selected to deliver the Deans of Oil and Gas Practice Lecture in 2011. LSU Law is the only law school to have two professors deliver the lecture in the conference’s history.
The IEL Annual Energy Law Conference is the world’s longest running energy law conference, annually bringing together legal leaders and other professionals in the energy industry for two days of educational programming covering the oil, gas, and renewables sectors of the energy industry. This year’s conference was held in Houston.
Every year since 2001, the IEL selects a distinguished legal practitioner or academic to present the Deans of Oil and Lecture, which often serves as an opportunity for the presenter to reflect on their career in oil and gas law.
“Keith is a highly respected leader in his field, as well as a highly respected teacher, both by his students and other energy professors,” said IEL Co-Director Jay Ray. “His contributions to energy law make him a natural choice for this distinguished lecture.”
Hall is the director of both the John P. Laborde Energy Law Center and the Mineral Law Institute. He is frequently cited by the media and tapped by local and state government officials for his expertise in oil and gas leases, mineral rights, carbon capture and storage, and the management of produced water. The LSU Institute for Energy Innovation granted Hall approximately $98,000 to study carbon capture and storage compensation in collaboration with colleagues across LSU’s campus in 2023.
Before joining the LSU Law faculty in 2012, Hall was a member of the firm Stone Pigman Walther Wittmann in New Orleans, where he practiced law for 16 years, with a focus on oil and gas litigation and transactions, environmental law, and toxic tort litigation.
Founded in Dallas in 1959 as a division of The Center for American and International Law, the IEL is an international nonprofit educational institution for lawyers, judges, and law enforcement professionals. As one of the energy industry’s premier membership organizations, IEL counts many leading global energy companies and attorneys among its international members.
LSU Law Professor Keith Hall with several of his students who attended the the 76th Annual Energy Law Conference. LSU Law had the largest law student representation at the conference.
