The Environment, Energy & Natural Resource Center
The Environment, Energy & Natural Resource Center Faculty
Marcilynn A. Burke
Assistant Professor of Law
134 TUII
mburke@central.uh.edu
713.743.2336
Professor Burke is currently on leave to serve as the Acting Assistant Secretary for Lands and Minerals Management at the U.S. Department of the Interior. While at UHLC, Professor Burke teaches courses in Environmental Law and Property. She received her A.B. in International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School where she was an editor for both the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism and the Yale Journal of International Law. She also served as a teaching assistant for both undergraduate and law school classes.
After graduating from Yale, she clerked for the Honorable Raymond A. Jackson of the Eastern District of Virginia. Following her clerkship, she joined the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. During her four years at the firm, her practice focused on environmental law, antitrust, and civil and criminal litigation.
Darren Bush
Associate Professor of Law
126 TUII
dbush@central.uh.edu
713.743.3346
Professor Bush writes and lectures on antitrust law & economics and regulated and deregulating industries with particular focus on electricity markets.
Professor Bush received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah, where he received a Teaching Fellowship, the Graduate Research Fellowship, and an award for outstanding teaching. While completing his J.D. at Utah, he consulted on issues regarding state deregulation of electric utilities, interned at the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, taught various economics courses, and received a Marriner S. Eccles Fellowship in Political Economy.
After receiving his J.D., Professor Bush served as an Attorney General's Honor Program Trial Attorney at the Antitrust Division's Transportation, Energy, & Agriculture Section, where his primary focus was the investigation of mergers and anticompetitive conduct in wholesale and retail energy markets. In 2001 Professor Bush returned to Utah as a Visiting Associate Professor, where he taught antitrust, law & economics, business organizations, and professional responsibility and consulted on numerous antitrust matters.
Gavin Clarkson
212 TUII
gclark@central.uh.edu
713.743.3438
Dr. Gavin Clarkson earned a doctorate from the Harvard Business School in technology and operations management and was a cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School, where he was the managing editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology and president of the Native American Law Students Association.
He joins the University of Houston Law Center from the University of Michigan, where he taught courses in the School of Information, School of Law, and Native American Studies. An enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Clarkson is the nation’s leading scholar on tribal finance and is widely respected for his extensive published research in both intellectual property management and Federal Indian Law, particularly tribal economic development. He has earned a number of grants from the National Science Foundation and other sources, and he will play an important role in expanding the nationally ranked Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law at the Law Center.
Dr. Clarkson previously served on the Computer Science faculty at Rice University from 1991 until 1998 and is quite excited about returning home to Texas.
Jacqueline Lang Weaver
A.A. White Professor of Law
122 TUII
jweaver@central.uh.edu
713.743.2158
Professor Weaver is an alumna of the Law Center, having graduated magna cum laude in 1975. In 1977 she joined the faculty and has taught courses in Oil and Gas, Energy Law and Policy, International Petroleum Transactions, Natural Resources, Water, and Environmental Law. She won the University of Houston Teaching Excellence award for 2005-2006.
Professor Weaver is a co-author of the leading treatise on Texas oil and gas law and of the casebook titled "Energy, Economics and the Environment." She has written numerous articles on oil and gas law and energy policy, including an article on Enron's effect on energy markets. She is a co-author on the third edition of the casebook titled “International Petroleum Transactions” (forthcoming 2010, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation). She also wrote several chapters in the treatise “International Petroleum Exploration & Exploitation Agreements (2d ed. 2009, Barrows Publishing). She was the Director of the Russian Petroleum Legislation Project in 1990-1991, blending academic and organizational skills to draft a model petroleum code for the new Russian Federation, with the participation of the World Bank, the European Bank, major oil companies, and Russian academics and officials.
Tracy Hester
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Visiting Assistant Professor
Director, EENR Center
142 TUII
tdheste2@central.uh.edu
713.743.1152
Tracy Hester is a visiting assistant professor at the University of Houston Law Center, and he currently is the Director of UHLC's Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Center. Professor Hester joined the faculty after serving as a partner at Bracewell & Giuliani and leading its Houston office's environmental group for over 15 years. Professor Hester focuses his research on legal issues raised by environmental compliance policies and enforcement. He has worked extensively on climate change compliance and liability as well as the innovative application of environmental laws to emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and renewable energy.
Professor Hester currently chairs the Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee of the American Bar Association's Section on Environment, Energy and Resources. He is also vice-chair of the Greater Houston Partnership's Environmental Policy Advisory Committee. He was elected as a member of the American Law Institute in 2004.
Professor Hester received his J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law in 1986 and his B.A. with high honors (Phi Beta Kappa) from The University of Texas at Austin. In addition to Bracewell, he previously worked at the law firms of Sidley & Austin and Baker Botts LLP.
SPECIAL FACULTY
Stephen Arbogast served from 1999-2004 as the Treasurer of Exxon Mobil Chemical Company and has over thirty years of experience in finance working with Exxon Corporation and Exxon Mobil Chemical. While Treasurer of Chemicals, Mr. Arbogast held positions that included Director of Qenos (Australia's sole manufacturer of polyethylene, a joint venture with Orica PLC), Director of Dexco (a joint venture with Dow Chemical), and Director of Al Jubai Petrochemical Company in Saudi Arabia. Other former positions included Vice President of Finance for SeaRiver Maritime Inc. (the former Exxon Shipping Company), Treasurer for Exxon Capital Corporation, Finance and Planning Manager for Esso Brasileira de Petroleo in Brazil, and Treasurer of Esso Central America, Panama, and Mexico.
Currently serving as an Executive Professor of Finance at the C.T. Bauer College of Business, Professor Arbogast's teaching career has focused on International Finance, Project Financing and Business Ethics. In addition to authoring over fifty case studies based on his experiences at Exxon Mobil, he has previously taught at both Fordham University's Graduate School of Business in New York and Rice University’s Jesse Jones Graduate School of Management in Houston.
Professor Arbogast has authored articles on the energy industry focusing on the future of the U.S. Gulf Coast Refining and Petrochemical industries. He also is the author of Resisting Corporate Corruption, Lessons in Practical Ethics from the Enron Wreckage, M & M Scrivener Press, 2008. His most recent publication is Project Financing & Political Risk Mitigation: The Singular Case of the Chad-Cameroon Pipeline, Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law, University of Texas School of Law, Volume 4, #2, 208-2009.
Professor Arbogast currently serves as Principal Investigator on a study for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Preferred Paths for Commercializing Pyrolysis Oil at Conventional Refineries. In 2008 he was appointed to NREL’s Biofuels Advisory Panel.
ADJUNCT FACULTY
Robert S. Ballentine, LL.M.
Burleson Cooke L.L.P.
711 Louisiana, Suite 1701
Houston, Texas 77002
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Mr. Ballentine is a partner with the energy law firm of Burleson Cooke, L.L.P. He has 25 years of commercial litigation experience, primarily concerning disputes over upstream and midstream energy contracts, such as exploration agreements, joint operating agreements, wellhead sales agreements, gas processing (keep whole and percent of proceeds) contracts, natural gas purchase & sales agreements, MODU maintenance, service agreements, natural gas and gas liquids transportation agreements, natural gas processing agreements, and related contracts. In addition, he has engaged in a significant regulatory practice focused primarily on the natural gas pipeline, telecommunications and electric power industries, including administrative law and litigation, and certificate applications before the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). He also has represented energy clients in complex litigation, including derivative and class actions in both state and federal courts, as well as litigation over state, federal and private mineral royalty claims, natural gas measurement False Claims Act qui tam litigation, natural gas processing, gas plant and gas pipeline litigation and arbitrations, as well as electric power contract disputes. He has litigated toxic tort and product liability matters, as well as Sherman Act antitrust claims, shareholder derivative, and securities litigation. He has represented clients in tax litigation, real estate and pipeline condemnation matters, and mineral partnership disputes and prepared appellate briefing concerning various energy-related issues pending before state and federal courts of appeals. He has also represented clients in admiralty litigation, as well as in a wide variety of adversary proceedings before United States bankruptcy courts.
Harless Benthul
harless.benthul@bwfirm.com
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Representation of corporations, other business entities and individuals in matters regarding environmental law with emphasis on compliance and auditing, enforcement representation (both civil and criminal), litigation, legislative and regulatory issues.
Benthul & Woodruff, LLP 2000 – 2005
Founding partner of law firm representing companies and individuals in matters regarding environmental law (compliance and auditing, enforcement representation (both civil and criminal), litigation, legislative and regulatory issues) and in admiralty/maritime matters.
Gilpin, Paxson & Bersch 1994 to 1999
Represented industrial and commercial clients in civil matters, civil and criminal enforcement issues, permitting and real estate acquisitions.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 1972 to 1994
Deputy Regional Counsel; Acting Assistant Regional Administrator for Management; Deputy Director, Management Division; Chief, State Programs and General Law Branch; Office of Regional Counsel: Chief, Legal Branch, Enforcement Division and Staff Attorney
Visiting Professor, University of Houston Law Center, Teaching Environmental Law, Liability Management and Criminal Environmental Law (1992-1994, as an EPA assignment)
Theodore Borrego
trb@explorationlaw.com
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Theodore R. (Ted) Borrego attended law school at University of Oklahoma's College of Law, where he graduated in 1974, having been appointed to the Law Review. He began his career with Vinson & Elkin in 1974, where he spent five years concentrating principally in the area of oil and gas law. After leaving Vinson & Elkins, Mr. Borrego practiced in Wichita Falls with the firm of Sherrill & Pace, and later, with Johnson & Swanson in Dallas. While at Johnson & Swanson, the firm grew from 125 lawyers in a single city to over 350 lawyers in multiple locations (and, in the process, changing its name to Johnson & Gibbs). Mr. Borrego was in charge of the oil and gas practice of the firm, and expanded it with the firm's growth He also served on the Management Committee and the Technology Committee, where, along with other lawyers, he oversaw the implementation of a large scale network. In 1993, Mr. Borrego decided that the administrative burdens of overseeing a department and management were interfering with his desire to practice law, so he left Johnson & Swanson (Johnson & Gibbs). Since 1993, other than a short period of time spent as in house counsel with a major independent, he has essentially been a solo practitioner.
Mr. Borrego's practice has been concentrated in the area of oil and gas exploration and development, both in the domestic area (offshore and on shore) and in foreign areas. He has advised clients in all states where production exists as well as having advised clients in over sixty different countries. His website is at www.explorationlaw.com.
William Cason
bcason@apxww.com
After graduation from Texas Tech University with a degree in Chemical Engineering, Bill Cason worked his way through the technical ranks of Conoco with wide ranging assignments all over the world, including serving as team leader for numerous upstream and downstream engineering projects, and as the budget coordinator for all Conoco’s refineries. He was assigned as Conoco’s representative on the Auto – Oil task force, a multi-disciplinary team assisting the EPA with research into clean motor fuels. This task force was manned by representatives of all US automakers and Major producers of motor fuels. As a member of the Task Force he interacted extensively with representatives of the Government and the auto industry.
Bill shifted his career path in 1993, pursuing a long held ambition of being a lawyer who understood oil and gas from the bare drill floor to the gas pump. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center in 1996. While at U of H Bill served as a Notes and Comments Editor of the U of H Law review, and was inducted into the Order of the Coif and the Order of the Barons.
After passing the bar exam Bill joined the firm of Mayor, Day, Caldwell and Keeton, focusing his practice on all legal aspects of oil and gas exploration, both in the United States and internationally. In 1998 Bill joined Ocean Energy, where he served as inside counsel on a wide range of projects worldwide including domestic and international acquisitions and dispositions, multiple service agreements in multiple jurisdictions and languages, litigation (including both ICC and LCIA) and compliance related issues, such as the FCPA, internal controls, SEC and FERC issues. In 2005 Bill joined Anadarko as the head of their legal function in London, England with responsibility for supervising and executing the legal support to all of Anadarko’s interests in Africa and the Middle East, as well as special projects in Indonesia and Malaysia. In particular, Bill has spent extensive time counseling clients on the ground in Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Angola, Mozambique and Indonesia.
Bill joined Gaither Petroleum as General Counsel for Gaither and its affiliates and subsidiaries in October, 2008 bringing his hands-on, pragmatic problem solving approach to their operations. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the University of Houston Law Review and as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Lighthouse Energy Services, Inc, a generator sales, service and rental company with offices in Houston, San Antonio and Springfield, Missouri. Bill is fluent in French, and enjoys flying and fishing (including the building of custom fishing rods) as his hobbies. He is happily married to his one and only wife of 23 years, Martha. He and Martha have three children aged 19, 17 and 16.
Frank Devlin
francisdevlin@msn.com
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Francis J. Devlin is currently an adjunct professor of law at the University of Houston Law Center, Houston, Texas, and. practices in the areas of antitrust, franchise, advertising and promotions, government investigations, environmental law, corporate law, legislation, alternative fuels, and general commercial law, with a concentration in the area of energy law. He teaches Franchise and Distribution, Sales and Leasing (UCC Articles 2 and 2A), and Gasoline: A Legal History.
Formerly senior counsel with Exxon Mobil Corporation, Frank represented them in numerous investigations concerning fuels pricing and quality at the federal, state, and local levels. He was the principal antitrust counsel for the domestic fuels marketing business and was responsible for more than a dozen pre-merger notifications filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), none of which resulted in the issuance of a Second Request. He coordinated Exxon's response to the Second Request issued by the FTC in connection with the merger of Exxon and Mobil. From 1996 through 1999, he was the coordinator of Exxon's General Commercial Practice Group, responsible for all domestic antitrust advice, together with responsibility for Exxon's domestic marketing and crude oil and products supply operations.
Mr. Devlin has also been active in the legislative area. Among other matters, he was the principal industry negotiator with respect to the 1994 amendments to the federal Petroleum Marketing Practices Act.
He is a member of the American Bar Association (ABA) and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He has spoken at numerous ABA and other seminars on legislative developments, antitrust, and environmental issues. He is a member of the ABA's sections on Antitrust Law and Environment, Energy and Resources, of which he is a vice-chairman of the Petroleum Marketing Committee. He is also a member of the Forum on Franchising, the Section on Business Law, and the Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution.
During his 30-year career with Standard Oil, Exxon and Exxon Mobil, Mr. Devlin had responsibility, among others, for the original development of its hazard communications programs, the financing of Exxon's interest in the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (including one of the few industrial corporation "Dutch auctions" of debt securities), shareholder relations, public affairs, corporate governance, and price controls during the Carter administration.
He has been active in the American Petroleum Institute (API), being the founding chairman of the Subcommittee on Marketing Law of the API Committee on Law and has served as the attorney advisor of the API Marketing Committee.
Admitted to practice in Texas and New York and before the U.S. Supreme Court and the Fifth and Eleventh Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals, Mr. Devlin is a Fellow of the College of the State Bar of Texas. He has been listed in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in the South and Southwest, as well as other biographical publications.
Mr. Devlin is a 1967 graduate of Fordham University School of Law, where he was articles editor of the Fordham Law Review and a 1964 magna cum laude graduate of Providence College, where he was editor-in-chief of The Cowl. His editorial on the death of President Kennedy was read into the Congressional Record.
Sashe D. Dimitroff
Haynes & Boone
Sashe_dimitroff@haynesboone.com
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Sashe Dimitroff is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group in the Houston office. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and intellectual property. He has significant experience in technology disputes, breach of contract & commercial fraud matters, international dispute resolution, oil & gas litigation, environmental disputes, and mass toxic tort. He has also developed “preventative law” strategies for various corporations to avoid future claims and in preparing them to defend various claims should they arise.
Sashe is a member of Texas Bar, the American and the International Bar Associations, and the American Society of International Law. He clerked for the Hon. Howell Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in 1992-93. While at the University of Houston Law School, Sashe served as Executive Editor for the University of
Houston Law Review. He is also an appointed member of the State Bar of Texas Standing Committee on Court Rules that is responsible for revisions of the Rules of Practice in civil actions and the related statutes of Texas.
Charles Irvine
charles@blackburncarter.com
Charles graduated from the University of Houston Law Center. He has a Masters in Conservation from University College London.
Before entering the legal field, he worked for five years in Greece as a program leader on environmental projects that protected sea turtles and marine mammals in coastal areas. During this time, he participated in extensive efforts to design and establish protected areas, eventually resulting in a new National Park. As an independent consultant, he researched and wrote comprehensive management plans for seven Mediterranean protected coastal areas under contracts with the World Wildlife Fund and European Union funded initiatives.
Charles is a member of the Texas Bar and is admitted to practice before U.S. District Court, Southern, Western, and Eastern Districts of Texas. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston law Center, where he teaches a classes in Texas Coastal and Ocean Law, Environmental Law, and Practice of Environmental Law.
Charles represents clients in state and federal court, and in matters before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the State Office of Administrative Hearings. Previous cases include challenges to air permits, Clean Air Act citizens suits, Endangered Species Act litigation, and NEPA litigation.
Janet McQuaid
Janet McQuaid is a Senior Counsel for El Paso Corporation in Houston, where her practice includes environmental litigation, permitting, enforcement defense, and compliance counseling. Prior to joining El Paso in 2008, Janet was a partner with the law firm of Smith-Robertson L.L.P. and, before that, with Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P in Austin. She is licensed to practice in Texas and Colorado, and is admitted to the Federal district courts for the Western and Southern Districts of Texas, and the Federal courts of appeal for the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits.
Before practicing law, Janet earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Pittsburgh, an MBA from Houston Baptist University, and a J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in Austin, where she served as chief manuscript editor of the Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif. She has been selected as a Texas SuperLawyer for Environmental Law by Texas Monthly magazine, by Best Lawyers in America, and as a Best Lawyers for Business by Chambers and Partners, an international lawyer ranking service. She is a frequent author and speaker on environmental topics, including three chapters on water quality and wetlands in The Texas Law of Water Resources (TexBar Books 2009), a chapter in The RCRA Practice Manual (ABA 2007), and supplements on Public Participation and other topics in Texas Environmental Law Treatise (ThompsonWest 2008-2010). Prior to law school, Janet worked for eleven years as an engineer for Exxon.
Henry May
Vinson & Elkins
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Henry has extensive experience in the regulatory, policy and transactional aspects of the natural gas and electric industries. He has represented clients before federal and state agencies and courts, has assisted in the development of energy policy initiatives and has participated in the structuring and negotiation of domestic and international energy transactions.
Henry came to Vinson & Elkins in 1973, became a partner in 1979, and became chair of the Energy Regulation Practice in 1990.
Norman J. Nadorff
BP Angola
Norman Nadorff is Senior Counsel for BP Angola and has resided in Luanda since 2006. Norman has served as an oil and gas attorney in various regions, primarily Latin America, Southeast Asia and West Africa for Conoco, ARCO and BP. He works effectively in Spanish, Portuguese and French, and is conversant in Indonesian. Norman’s Exploration and & Production experience includes two expatriate assignments in Indonesia. He was also a legal advisor to ARCO's Treasury Department (Los Angeles) in the mid-90's and at one stage provided legal services to BP's solar energy division. At ARCO, Norman wrote the Company’s policies on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, U.S. Anti-boycott laws and U.S. Export Regulations.
Soon after arriving in Angola, Norman conceptualized and helped obtain BP funding for the creation of a post-graduate Oil and Gas Law, Policy and Economics program at the national law school which has graduated approximately 75 professionals in three sessions. Norman assisted with the recruitment of international instructors for the Program and with the design of its curriculum. He has also taught contract drafting and anti-corruption law in the Program and spearheaded several well-attended symposia and an international mock arbitration. More recently, Norman was instrumental in the creation of a similar recurring course at Thailand’s Chulalongkorn University College of Law for which he teaches drafting and negotiating international oil and gas agreements. Norman lectures frequently on a wide range of topics around the world and in Angola.
Norman received his Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University College of Law (1980). He also holds an M.A. in Spanish and Portuguese and a B.A. in Political Science (summa cum laude), both from Saint Louis University (1975, 1976). He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa (1974) and was a Fulbright Fellow in Law in Brazil (1980-1981) during which time he published an article entitled “Habeas Corpus and the Protection of Political and Civil Rights in Brazil, 1964-1978.” He is admitted to practice law in Ohio (1980) and Texas (2002). Norman is a former Director-at-large of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) and former Co-Chair, Scholarships. Norman was recently appointed to the Board of Advisors of the AIPN’s Journal of World Energy, Law and Business.
Susan Strawn
After twelve years as a federal prosecutor, Ms. Strawn joined the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Overseas Assistance, Development and Training as Resident Legal Advisor in Kosovo. In that capacity, she was the lead on-the-ground coordinator and implementer of the U.S. government's judicial and prosecutorial training and reform efforts in Kosovo. She also spent one year seconded to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo in an operational capacity, working with NATO forces and international police to target ethnic extremism, organized crime, money laundering and corruption. After leaving the Department of Justice in 2004, she spent two years in Senegal as the Department of Treasury's Office of Technical Assistance Resident Advisor to West Africa, working to implement anti-money laundering, anti-corruption and counter-terrorist financing laws in the fifteen countries of the Economic Community of West African States. Ms. Strawn is a 1988 cum laude graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, where she was a member of the Law Review, and a 1984 magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, where she was awarded the Walter Phelps Hall Prize in European History. Following law school, she served as law clerk to the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and taught Criminal Law for one year as a fellow at the University of Miami School of Law in Coral Gables, Florida.
