Law Schools and Students
Law Schools
Law school members of the IEL have one representative on the IEL’s Advisory Board, who is entitled to attend the Annual Energy Law Conference and the various Advisory Board events free of charge. The Law School Advisory Board representative can also nominate two students to attend most of IEL’s programs throughout the year free of registration fees.
Members
- Baylor University Law School
- Duquesne University School of Law
- LSU Law School
- Oklahoma City University School of Law
- Penn State Law
- Queen Mary University of London
- SMU Dedman School of Law
- South Texas College of Law - Houston
- Texas A&M University School of Law
- Texas Tech University School of Law
- The University of Texas at Austin School of Law
- Thurgood Marshall School of Law
- Tulane University Law School
- University of Alberta Faculty of Law
- University of Arkansas School of Law
- University of Colorado Law School
- University of Denver Sturm College of Law
- University of Dundee
- University of Houston Law Center
- University of Kansas School of Law
- University of Mississippi School of Law
- University of New Mexico School of Law
- University of North Dakota School of Law
- University of Oklahoma College of Law
- University of Tulsa College of Law
- University of Waikato
- University of Wyoming College of Law
- UNT Dallas College of Law
- Vermont Law School
- Washburn University School of Law
- West Virginia University College of Law
Law Students
The IEL organizes free programs for law students. Since 2020 IEL has held a multi-part Summer Associate Series webinars on topics designed to help law students understand the practice of energy law. Sessions from the 2021-2026 series are available on IEL’s YouTube channel.
Law students are encouraged to attend IEL conferences. If your school is an IEL law school member, it can nominate two students to attend most IEL conferences free of tuition fees (this does not include travel or accommodation expenses). If your school is not an IEL member, or if your school has already nominated two students to attend free of charge, students can still register for a conference at the discounted student rate. When space permits, any law student can attend any IEL program free of charge “on audit”, but in that case will not be entitled to delegate privileges.
IEL has Law Student Membership available for $25. Law Student Members become part of IEL’s Young Energy Professionals’ (YEP) Committee. Law Student Members are invited to YEP social events and free webinars.
Law students are invited to submit articles for consideration for our Young Energy Professionals’ publication, The Energy Dispatch, and our member newsletter, the Energy Law Advisor. The ELA has a dedicated section for student writing. For questions regarding submission guidelines, please email iel@cailaw.org.
If you would like to receive emails from the IEL about upcoming programs, activities, publications, and news, sign up below.
The Institute for Energy Law Announces the 2026 Hartrick Scholar Writing Competition Winner
The 2026 winner of the Institute for Energy Law's Hartrick Scholar Writing Competition is Gunner Purcell. Gunner is a second-year student at Texas Tech University School of Law. At Texas Tech, Gunner is on the editorial board of the Journal of the Energy Law Practitioner and an officer of the Energy Law Interest Group. He holds a B.S. In Agricultural Leadership & Development and History from Texas A&M University.
His winning paper is entitled Texas Data Center Policy: Regulating Energy and Water Consumption in the Age of AI. The paper will be published in the Institute for Energy Law's Proceedings of the 77th Annual Institute on Energy Law.
Gunner received a $2,500 prize for winning the competition.
Other finalists this year included:
- Chase Crouch of Texas Tech University School of Law with the paper Lithium in Limbo: Uncertainty of Natural Brine Constituent Mineral Ownership in Texas
- Brittany Keller of South Texas College of Law Houston with the paper The Commodity Paradox of Lithium in Produced Water
- Kaylee Miller of Texas Tech University School of Law with the paper Dead Blades in West Texas: Finding a Sustainable Solution
- Karena Verbitsky of University of South Dakota Knudson School of Law with the paper Note: the Oh-No-Zone: The Dakotas' Disagreement on Summit Carbon Solutions as a Common Carrier