Alum and scholar Frédéric Sourgens (L’05) to lead Tulane Center for Energy Law

Sourgens is not only a Tulane Law alumnus with the Class of 2005, but he also is an international expert in dispute resolution, transnational law, and energy transition and has published extensively on the subject. As Center Director, Sourgens will lead a uniquely-positioned law school think tank that is deeply influential in the regional oil and gas industry, and which has established itself as a voice at the center of the nation’s transition to renewable energy. 

“We are so excited to welcome Freddy back to Tulane as our Energy Law Chair and Director of the Center for Energy Law. Freddy’s leadership in the field is second to none," said Law Dean Richardson. "He is on the forefront of the legal academy developing real solutions to our multifaceted energy needs. Freddy’s focus on energy law from an international perspective not only fits perfectly with the strengths of Tulane Law School but also is how in our global economy energy law must be approached.” 

Sourgens began his new role July 1. He is formerly the Senator Robert J. Dole Distinguished Professor of Law at Washburn University where he also was Director of the Washburn Oil and Gas Law Center. He is the co-lead investigator with OPEC’s General Legal Counsel, Leonardo Sempértegui of the energy transition policy and regulatory briefs project for the Organization of Petroleum Producing States (OPEC). 

Sourgens is the Chair of the Southwest Institute for International and Comparative Law and a member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Academic Outreach Committee for the Institute for Energy Law. He is the author of more than 90 books, textbooks, articles, book chapters, book reviews, and essays.

Before entering academia, Sourgens practiced law at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP in Houston (now Norton Rose Fulbright) and Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP in Washington DC (now Milbank).

“Tulane is a place that is unique – it cares about the energy industry and has a leadership role in that industry -- while at the same time also having world-leading strength in admiralty and environmental law,” said Sourgens. “If you want to be able to solve the problems that we have to solve, like battling climate change and energy transition, Tulane is in the unique position of having the right areas of specialty to help solve those problems.”

Sourgens said his goals for the Center are first, to continue the work of his predecessor and inaugural Chair, Professor Kim Talus, and the Energy Law Center Advisory board, whom he said “established the structure that put Tulane on the map.”

He wants to ramp up the research impact of the Center with policy papers, studies and other scholarly work that will help guide policymakers to better solutions that make global impact, establishing the Center firmly as a voice in energy transition. And in that work, he sees law students as integral to success.

“I would hope to bring a greater global research impact not by just doing my work – no one researcher can do it alone, you know – but also by bringing students into research and advocacy while they are in law school,” Sourgens said.

The third leg of his plan is service to the community, he said.

“Service is a Tulane strength, and we need to figure out how to guarantee equitable energy access,” he said. “We are the school that is going to be one of the driving forces of energy transition and there is a service component of that.”

Sourgens lauded Tulane’s long tradition in comparative law for setting the foundation of his perspective in legal problem-solving. With comparative law, students learn to view the legal traditions of jurisdictions across the globe to understand the roots of the law.

He pointed to the complex global issues of energy transition, which is multifaceted. There is the concern about hurting energy sectors, creating sky-high prices for consumers, as well as the concern of irreversibly injuring the planet with high emissions.

“You can’t have such high energy prices that kill individual opportunity, that kill small business,” he said. “At the same time as you're trying to make sure that you maintain low CO2 emissions. These problems are two sides of the same thing at the same time and you can't solve them serially. You have to solve them simultaneously.  And you need to see how you're solving those together and how you're using and leveraging both aspects of the problem.”

In its first five years, the Center has produced research in everything from carbon capture to wind energy and brought scholars from around the world to Tulane through annual conferences and symposia. Center visiting faculty have had expertise in wind, oil and gas and renewable energy, and there have been cross-collaborations with those in the Tulane Center for Environmental Law in areas of common research.

The chair was launched with a $2 million endowment gift from energy industry veteran and Tulane graduate Jim McCulloch (A&S '74, L ‘77) executive vice president and general counsel for Houston-based Forum Energy Technologies, and his wife, Susan. Through the center, Tulane Law aims to leverage its strengths in the related fields of maritime, environmental and international law to build a world-leading program in energy law.