Page 34 - Briefcase Volume 36 Number 2

DONOR

MICHAEL NUGENT ’72

When reflecting on 40-plus years as an attorney, Michael of the law all the while drawing a paycheck.”
Nugent believes his legacy will be his willingness to find Nugent said he values the legal education he received from
solutions. the Law Center, and said his favorite professor was Dean A.A.
While the 1972 University of Houston Law Center graduate White, with whom he took three courses.
acknowledges the adversarial nature of practicing law, Nugent “He was just low key and really good at what he did,” he said.
preferred to abide by the mantra, “A deal is not a good deal “Dean White was just really calm when he taught you.”
unless both parties are happy,” throughout his career. He recalled one instance where he was the only 3L student
“I didn’t like to argue,” Nugent enrolled in White’s class that was
said. “I guess that’s because I’m primarily for first-year students.
not very good at it. I always “The highlight of my law
believed that I could get a lot “I always believed that school career was in Dean
done working with people rather White’s course,” Nugent said.
than fighting. That works for me, I could get a lot done “It was my last semester, and I
but there are other people where was studying for the bar exam as
that’s not their style, and they’re working with people well. There was a whole bunch
very successful in what they do.” of young kids in there. It was
Nugent spent the majority rather than fighting.” their first course. They were
of his career practicing oil and sitting and were scared to death.
gas law. Early on, he worked for “He would ask them a
Hunt Oil Company in Dallas. question and they would stand
He worked for Occidental Petroleum in its Houston office for up, even though he never made his students stand up. Finally,
three years, and then transferred to an Occidental subsidiary, he asks me a question one day, and I’m just in my chair with
Zoecon Corp., based in Dallas. my legs crossed. You could hear a gasp. We just had a back-
From 1985-2004, Nugent worked for the A.G. Hill family and-forth discussion, and from that point on no one in the
and Hunt Petroleum Corporation, before establishing his own class stood up.”
private practice. He retired in 2015. Nugent has been an active and generous alumnus. For
Nugent said that oil and gas is an area with ample more than 20 years, he has supported the Law Center’s efforts
opportunities, especially for attorneys who want to practice in numerous ways, including the Law Annual Fund, Dean’s
in Texas. But he cautioned that attorneys should always be Society, funding a three-year Leaders & Achievers scholarship
prepared for the industry’s downturns. and most recently contributing to the ongoing campaign for a
“The oil and gas business is great,” Nugent said. “I enjoyed new facility.
the people and the industry because you have a deal to do and “I just don’t understand how you can’t have a relationship
you get it done. It’s a rollercoaster though, and you have to be with your law school,” Nugent said. “I don’t know what I would
prepared for that. It goes up and it goes down. have done if I hadn’t gone to law school there.
“But relying exclusively on oil and gas is risky. You have “What’s being done in legal education is very interesting
to be prepared to do something else, like probate, divorces, and hadn’t even been dreamed of when I was in school. But I
or contracts and litigation. I sense that these other fields of also understand the way tuition rates are going. I couldn’t have
law have become more specialized and complicated, so it made it now. I love it there, and I’ve received some nice letters
might be more difficult for lawyers these days. Working for from some of the scholarship recipients. I know that every bit
corporations gave me the opportunity to work in various areas of support helps.” ■

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