Energy Law Forum

[user1877]

If I wanted to work for an energy firm after law school, where should I go?

Thanks

[law4vus]

If I wanted to work for an energy firm after law school, where should I go?

Thanks

To the best school you get into, taking potential debt into consideration.

[loblaw]

I am interested in this field as well. I have heard UT and the T-20 Cali schools are good for energy.

[jdMission]

You ask an interesting question. In environmental law courses, students learn about energy law and policy. The schools that are ranked the best for their environmental law courses, according to U.S. News and World Report, are as follows:
Vermont Law School
Lewis & Clark College
Pace University
University of California- Berkley
University of Colorado - Boulder
Florida State University
University of Maryland
Stanford University
Tulane University
University of Oregon
Georgetown University
New York University
Duke University
University of Florida (Levin)
George Washington University
University of California--Los Angeles
University of Denver (Sturm)
Columbia University
Widener University
Yale University
University of California--Davis
University of Utah (Quinney)

Hope this helps!

Sunitha Ramaiah
Model Car Enthusiast

[TaipeiMort]

You ask an interesting question. In environmental law courses, students learn about energy law and policy. The schools that are ranked the best for their environmental law courses, according to U.S. News and World Report, are as follows:
Vermont Law School
Lewis & Clark College
Pace University
University of California- Berkley
University of Colorado - Boulder
Florida State University
University of Maryland
Stanford University
Tulane University
University of Oregon
Georgetown University
New York University
Duke University
University of Florida (Levin)
George Washington University
University of California--Los Angeles
University of Denver (Sturm)
Columbia University
Widener University
Yale University
University of California--Davis
University of Utah (Quinney)

Hope this helps!

Sunitha Ramaiah
Co-Founder and Consultant jdMission

Sunitha, how might I purchase your product(s)???!

[TaipeiMort]

If I wanted to work for an energy firm after law school, where should I go?

Thanks

Texas.

Also, to answer the question. a T5 school (YHSCC), or UT Austin are your best bets.

However, with Texas ties, a great reason to assure them you wont bolt as soon as you get trained well (family man/Mormon/Southerner) and indeterminable grade luck, you can also get into the Texas market from a 6-13 school.

You can also increase your chances by speaking Arabic or Chinese.

[clemeur]

Some people in this forum are quite aggressive and/or have too much time on their hands…I totally disagree with Taipeiguy above…

I think your approach should be to define the “energy” work you intend to do... Are we talking Oil&Gas, or clean energy, etc…? Are you interested in working with domestic markets on regulatory issues (electricity for ex), or are you aiming for international projects, exploration contracts, Product sharing Agreements and so on etc…
Are you thinking Energy related dispute???

All these questions are important because they will allow you to pinpoint the skills you will develop over your academic years. See http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Editorial/42641 for some of the best law firms…It will also give you an idea of the energy areas you can specialize in.

You should contact some of these firms and ask what their approach is to recruiting…I am sure you will see that they do not really give importance to the university as long as it is top tier.

Many will however will look for graduates from top ten law schools, and will review the courses they took. From this perspective, you may want to look into courses like international arbitration, project finance, public/private international law… and so on…You may also want to take a look into courses/seminars offered by these schools which focus on energy… From this perspective, Sunitha’s approach is correct although she should not limit it to environmental law. You should look for courses on Oil & Gas, Procurement, and so on, depending on what you are aiming for.

I hope this helps.

[johndelclay]

Vermont Law School is the top number 1 for energy firm after law school.

[TaipeiMort]

Please understand that firms are currently hugely selective in what attorneys they hire. Supply and demand currently dictate that they wont be going deep into very many schools' classes.

Additionally, if you are looking for Biglaw, the "course selection" of your school will not matter, as OCI comes after your first year.

Also, firms are looking for writing, analytic skills, and physical presence/ personality, and signaling factor of one's pedigree. They can't teach smart, they can teach industry-specific knowledge.

Also, can someone mod ban the alt user trying to sell stuff with the long posts above?

[brocklanders12]

You should clarify if you mean "energy" like environmental/green fads, or energy like oil, gas and coal.

[user1877]

Thanks for all the helpful comments

Ideally I would like Gas & Oil with international dealings or work at an energy firm. But, I am afraid that with my 160 LSAT and 3.3 undergrad from William and Mary - I will not get into a law school that feeds into this career path. Thinking UHouston because of proxmity.

Thoughts?

Thanks

[TaipeiMort]

Thanks for all the helpful comments

Ideally I would like Gas & Oil with international dealings or work at an energy firm. But, I am afraid that with my 160 LSAT and 3.3 undergrad from William and Mary - I will not get into a law school that feeds into this career path. Thinking UHouston because of proxmity.

Thoughts?

Thanks

I think thats a good plan. Just get really good grades while you are there.

[071816]

You ask an interesting question. In environmental law courses, students learn about energy law and policy. The schools that are ranked the best for their environmental law courses, according to U.S. News and World Report, are as follows:
Vermont Law School
Lewis & Clark College
Pace University
University of California- Berkley
University of Colorado - Boulder
Florida State University
University of Maryland
Stanford University
Tulane University
University of Oregon
Georgetown University
New York University
Duke University
University of Florida (Levin)
George Washington University
University of California--Los Angeles
University of Denver (Sturm)
Columbia University
Widener University
Yale University
University of California--Davis
University of Utah (Quinney)

Hope this helps!

Sunitha Ramaiah
Model Car Enthusiast

Specialty rankings are only relevant when comparing peer schools. This is sucky advice.

[jamman]

.

[Marlin88]

Thanks for all the helpful comments

Ideally I would like Gas & Oil with international dealings or work at an energy firm. But, I am afraid that with my 160 LSAT and 3.3 undergrad from William and Mary - I will not get into a law school that feeds into this career path. Thinking UHouston because of proxmity.

Thoughts?

Thanks

The University of Oklahoma now has a 4 year law program where you get your LLM in Oil and Gas Law in your 4th year. I believe it is the first of its kind in the nation. You would probably have a decent shot of getting in there with your numbers.

[reepS]

I just want to start recommending outrageous and inappropriate advice and end it with "Sunitha Ramaiah, jdMission" from now on bc of her posting.

Sunitha Ramaiah
jdMission

[BoriquaEsquire]

I also want to go into the [currently] nebulous field of Energy Law.

As Jamman mentioned, it's not technically a field of law. It's sort of an umbrella term for all kinds of lawyers.

I just figured I'd write a little about what I'm doing through NYU Law School.

I'm a rising 2L at NYU. This summer, I got an internship with the Alaska State Government in their Department of Law, Division of Oil, Gas & Mining. It's fascinating. All summer I've been working on a memo about coal mining technology. Alaska has 50% of the nation's coal seams.

The State of Alaska recruits 1Ls for summer jobs through NYU's PILC (Public Interest Law Center). This year, they took 3 people from NYU and one person from Cornell who got the job at the NYU job fair. For some reason Alaska really likes NYU.

Next semester I'll be working with my Torts professor on a directed research project about how litigators in the fields of energy, environmental, and land use law have recently begun to utilize constitutional law as a part of their litigation strategy. My torts professor is actually an amazing environmental law attorney who got roped into teaching 1L torts last year.

Also next semester I am bidding on classes in environmental and natural resource law. The Dean of NYU Law School teaches Environmental Law.

So far NYU has not let me down when it comes to achieving my goal to become an "energy lawyer" (whatever that means!). I'll be checking out what types of networking events they have, though. They don't seem to have much in terms of oil, gas & mining, but career services is pretty determined to help each student reach their goals.