Experienced Leadership

Professor Sourgens is the James McCulloch Chair in Energy Law at Tulane Law School and Faculty Director of the Tulane Energy Law & Policy Center. He is based at Tulane’s uptown campus in New Orleans. He has written across a broad range of energy value chains (oil and gas, gas-fired power, nuclear energy, renewable energy, as well as hard rock mining, project structuring, and transnational sales) and is a sought-after international and comparative lawyer, in addition to his background in U.S. energy law. He has authored over 100 publications and spoken at and keynoted national and international conferences. Beyond his academic credentials, he is also an experienced energy law practitioner. He was recognized by the Who’s Who (Arbitration) and received an Official Proclamation of Gratitude from the Mongolian Minister of Justice for his role in successfully representing Mongolia in Paushok v. Mongolia in 2011. He is listed on the Specialty Energy Panel of the American Arbitration Association Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators and serves or served as an expert in some of the most consequential global energy disputes pending in various international fora.  

Professor Sourgens is the co-lead investigator with OPEC’s General Legal Counsel, Leonardo Sempértegui of the OPEC energy transition policy and regulatory briefs project and serves as chair of the Nuclear Taskforce of the Association International Energy Negotiators (AIEN) and Co-Chair of the AIEN’s 2026 International Energy Summit. Professor Sourgens has served on the Executive Committee of the Institute for Energy Law and on the Executive Counsel of the American Society of International Law. He currently serves on the Board of American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), the Board of the Trans-Lex Principles, and, ex officio, on the Board of the Center for American and International Law. Professor Sourgens holds multiple editorial appointments including with the Brill Research Perspectives in International Investment Law and Arbitration as well as the American Review of International Arbitration (Columbia University School of Law) and, until 2024, served as Editor-in-Chief of Oxford University Press' Investment Claims reporter of international arbitral awards between states and foreign investors. Professor Sourgens received the 2024 Tulane University Convergence Award to recognize his collaborations across schools, units, and departments to surpass traditional academic disciplines and further Tulane’s research mission.  

Professor Sourgens’ most recent books are A Theory of Global Energy Governance (Oxford University Press 2025), The Transnational Law of Renewable Energy with Catherine Banet and Teddy Baldwin (Oxford University Press 2024), Principles of International Energy Transition Law with Leonardo Sempértegui (Oxford University Press 2023), Good Faith in Transnational Law, A Pluralist Account (Brill Nijhoff 2022) (Winner ABILA International Law Book of the Year 2023), and International Petroleum Law and Transactions (Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2020) (with Owen Anderson, John S Dzienkowski, Keith Hall, John Lowe, Harry Sullivan & Jacqueline Weaver). His work is regularly cited in international arbitral awards and court decisions. His next book project is to edit the Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of Wind Power with Catherine Banet & Penny Crossley. His articles have appeared in peer-reviewed journals like the European Journal of International Law, student-edited general law reviews like the Colorado Law Review, and student edited international law journals like the Yale Journal of International Law among others. The Environmental Law Institute recognized his article Geo-Markets on carbon capture and solar radiation management as one of the best 20 environmental law articles of 2020. His work is regularly cited by courts and tribunals. For example, his research on the precautionary principle was approvingly quoted by the Court of Appeal of New Zealand in NZTSOS Inc. v. Minister for Covid-19 Response, [2024] NZCA 74.  

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

Professor Sourgens holds a Candidatus Magisterii in Philosophy and Latin from the University of Oslo, an MA in Political Philosophy (The Idea of Toleration) from the University of York (UK), a JD from Tulane University Law School, and a PhD in Law from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University (Frankfurt am Main).