HYLA Houston Delegation at the Norton firm.
HYLA Houston Delegation at University of Calgary, with IELP students and Faculty of Law Dean Evaristus Oshionebo.
June 25, 2025 ‒ The University of Houston Law Center recently celebrated the 10-year anniversary of graduating the first class from the International Energy Lawyers Program (IELP), a dual degree J. D. program.
Launched in 2012 in partnership with the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, the IELP offers participating law students the opportunity to earn both U.S. and Canadian law degrees in four years. Students spend two years at each school and take courses that will enable them to apply for admission to bars in the U.S. and Canada.
Faculty of Law Director of the Career & Professional Development Office Maryanne Forrayi, UHLC Dean Leonard M. Baynes, UC Faculty of Law Dean
Evaristus Oshionebo, Faculty of Law Events Coordinator Peter Desmond Dawe, UHLC’s Executive Director of Global and Graduate Programs Karen Jones
HYLA President Mariame Aana presenting a HYLA award to University of Calgary Dean Oshionebo.
"As of May 2025, the program has graduated 23 students," said Karen Jones, executive director of Global and Graduate Programs at the UH Law Center. "Many of our graduates are in prestigious positions with top law firms, working in corporations and in the energy sector.”
While the initial impetus of the program was geared towards energy, Jones shared students in the last decade have completed the program and successfully branched out into many other legal sectors.
"What makes this program unique is that it helps students meet the requirements to become licensed lawyers in two different countries. Truly international lawyers,” Jones said. “Even if students decide to practice in one jurisdiction or the other, the knowledge they have gained in understanding laws, legal systems, and cultures of different jurisdictions is invaluable."
As part of the celebrations, the Law Center, University of Calgary, Houston Young Lawyers Association and the Canadian Bar Association of Alberta co-sponsored a special event titled "Passport to Calgary" in Canada this spring. Both Jones and UH Law Dean Leonard M. Baynes attended and served as distinguished speakers.
The three-day event included networking opportunities and various discussions and continuing legal education sessions on cross-border transactional and litigation considerations, indigenous ownership of energy projects, comparative constitutional law between Canada and the U.S., employment and immigration law and sports law.
Attendees also visited the Calgary Courts Center where they observed a sentencing hearing in Indigenous Court, attended a presentation on Legal Aid Alberta, and visited the Calgary Zoo.
“The Passport Program worked to fortify relationships that currently exist between our two great nations,” Dean Baynes said. “The Program was designed to highlight our shared similarities and not our differences through our mutual and shared history and very similar legal institutions – courts, law faculty, and the bar associations.”
HYLA’s “Passport to Calgary” program was selected as a Texas Young Lawyers Association’s 2025 Award of Achievement winner, earning first place for service to the bar. All winners will be recognized at the Bar Leaders Conference to be held July 24-25, 2025, in Houston.
