Law Schools, Politics

How Not To Make An Energy Lawyer: Law Students Object To The Politicization Of Their Studies

School wants more Big Oil lawyers, but students protest.

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OPEN LETTER FROM STUDENTS AT WYOMING COLLEGE OF LAW

Dear President Sternberg:

On August 6, 2013, you wrote to the people of the State of Wyoming and the University of Wyoming the following: “Public institutions, and especially land grant institutions, have a responsibility to everyone in their states, because they are taxpayer supported. They cannot afford to be anything less than fully and publically transparent . . . . They cannot risk turning inward or battening down the forts. Without public accountability, they are in jeopardy for their existence.” On October 31, 2013, Stephen D. Easton announced his resignation as Dean of the University of Wyoming College of Law. The undersigned students at the University of Wyoming College of Law demand public transparency and accountability concerning the factors that led to Dean Easton’s resignation.

Following Dean Easton’s resignation, a news story posted on the University of Wyoming website claimed, “Sternberg this week began soliciting nominations for an advisory task force he plans to create to provide input on the College of Law.” President Sternberg, you extol the virtues of ethics and proffer an educational mission of educating “ethical leaders who will make the world a better place to live.” Contrary to your position on ethical leadership, no public mention of the clandestine “task force” was ever made to the students at the College of Law prior to Dean Easton’s resignation. The best implementation of an ethical leadership mission is by example. In that, you have failed.

In Dean Easton’s resignation letter, he wrote, “It is crucial for the College of Law to continue to offer a comprehensive legal education, not an education that is overly focused on one particular area of law.” While the undersigned students have received no notification of the purposes of the “task force,” we can read between the lines. The same news story referenced above quotes you as saying, “I will ask the task force to look at how we serve the state with regard to energy, natural resources, water and environmental law, but its work will not be limited to those areas.” The message is clear: The President of the University of Wyoming has decided the College of Law will focus more on energy and natural resources law.

Had you consulted with the students at the College of Law, you would have learned that this plan is misguided. Many energy and natural resources courses are already offered. In fact, energy and natural resources make up one fourth of the courses at the College of Law. Additionally, energy and natural resources law is not an exclusive field within the law, but rather a conglomeration of contract, property, business, and administrative law. All of these areas are covered extensively in the course offerings at the College of Law. While energy and natural resources focused courses are important for students wishing to pursue careers in those fields, they are not the sole focus or interest of all, or even most, students at the College of Law. For example, there are over forty students enrolled in both Employment Law and Criminal Procedure this semester. In Oil & Gas, there are only nine.

You proclaim “land grant institutions have a responsibility to everyone in their states, because they are taxpayer-supported.” It is hard to imagine a college at the University of Wyoming more responsible to the people of Wyoming than the College of Law. Undoubtedly, energy and natural resources are a significant part of Wyoming life. But those industries also require a workforce. Some of the workforce will be arrested, some will be injured, some will get divorced, some will be fired, and others will encounter issues impossible to enumerate here. When the people of the State of Wyoming find themselves in these situations, they need competent lawyers. Beyond the energy and natural resources industries, there are many other people living in Wyoming who face the same issues outlined above. The College of Law is the only law school in Wyoming, and as such is responsible for providing the necessary education to future lawyers so they can competently represent the people of Wyoming in all areas of the law.

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Recently, the American Bar Association (ABA) conducted an accreditation review of the College of Law. The ABA employed experts in legal education to evaluate all aspects of the College of Law. The ABA’s report has yet to be finalized, and no one is aware of the findings. Instead of waiting for the findings and conclusions of the report, you decided to take action and redirect the mission of the College of Law. This was done without sufficient input, without sufficient explanation, and completely in violation of your expressed ethical standards.

Your action of creating a “task force” to evaluate the College of Law at this juncture appears, for all intents and purposes, to be nothing more than a political maneuver. By allowing private industry to dictate the curriculum at the College of Law you have compromised the standards of the institution. If your purpose was truly to evaluate the College of Law, then you should have expressed this intent to the students prior to Dean Easton’s resignation and after the ABA publishes its final report. It is clear that the ABA’s report would be invaluable to the advisory “task force.” Yet, you initiated the review without reading, or even having the opportunity to see, the ABA’s report. You call for transparency in leadership, and while you yourself are not transparent, your actions speak volumes.

We, the undersigned students at the College of Law, demand you follow the ethics you extol and personally inform the students at the College of Law, the University of Wyoming, and the people of the State of Wyoming, of the reasons for the decisions regarding the College of Law and the true intent of your advisory “task force.” As the Cowboy Ethics put it, “When you make a promise, keep it.” You promised transparency, and we have yet to see it. To use your words, “without public accountability,” the College of Law and the University of Wyoming “are in jeopardy for their existence.”

Earlier: Poor Funding And Maybe Politics Force Popular Dean To Resign

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