The Louisiana Board of Regents granted formal approval of LSU Law’s Energy Law Center, the first such center in Louisiana and one of a handful operating in law schools nationwide, at their August meeting. The Center will prepare lawyers for the full range of 21st century practice in the complex world of energy law.
“Only a short time ago, the Energy Law Center was only a dream,” said LSU Law Center Chancellor Jack M. Weiss. “Now that dream has become a reality.”
“Legal and regulatory issues in the energy industry have become more and more specialized and complex in the past 30 years,” Weiss said. “The LSU Energy Law Center will have a multidisciplinary and global focus and will foster the highest level of legal expertise in energy law studies, broadly defined.”
The LSU Energy Law Center will offer a wide range of courses never before offered at the Law Center to provide students with the opportunity for the concentrated study of energy law. In addition, the Law Center will develop collaborative and cross-enrollment opportunities for courses with the LSU A & M campus in content areas that will enhance the knowledge base of students in energy law. Potential programs with courses for cross enrollment include Geology, Petroleum Engineering, Nuclear Sciences, Coastal Sciences, Environmental Science and Chemical Engineering, among others.
The Center will provide an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to energy law study that will complement and add to cutting-edge thinking about legal education. “Our graduates pursuing the study of energy law will be ‘prepared for practice’ and ready to assist with complex projects involving teams of interdisciplinary professionals in the energy industry,” said Weiss.
In addition to preparing graduates for practice in complex energy matters, the Center will also provide opportunities for students at LSU A&M to gain an understanding of the legal subject matter relevant to the science, engineering, and other disciplines critical to 21st century energy. The Center also will offer enhanced continuing legal education of attorneys in the energy field. In addition, the Center will serve as a repository of research and a source for consultation with law firms and businesses throughout Louisiana and the Gulf Coast.
LSU Law’s already considerable contributions to the State’s economic development will grow as a result of strengthening its educational focus on energy. The Center will develop competencies in students that will advance energy-related commerce and drive economic success.
Serving as the initial Director of the Energy Law Center will be Robert D. Sloan. With 40 years of legal experience across the globe, Sloan will bring a broad professional and international perspective to the directorship of the Center. Sloan served most recently as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Entergy Corporation in New Orleans. He will join the faculty in November as a Professor of Professional Practice.
A rising star among oil and gas scholars and teachers, Keith Hall joined the faculty as Assistant Professor of Law and Director of the Louisiana Mineral Law Institute. Hall will teach a range of courses focusing on, and building from, his core expertise in oil and gas law. As director of the Mineral Law Institute, Hall also will lead this longstanding annual CLE program.
Professor Blake Hudson has also joined the faculty as an Associate Professor of Law. Hudson already has developed a strong reputation as a scholar and teacher of environmental and and natural resources law and policy. Hudson holds a joint appointment with the LSU School of the Coast and Environment. Previously, Hudson taught for three years at Stetson University College of Law.
The Law Center has recently established a new student-edited journal, the LSU Journal of Energy Law and Resources, to provide students an opportunity to write and publish in the energy field.
