Fall 2023
Professor(s):
Francisco Rivero (ADJUNCT)
Credits: 2
Course Areas: International Law
Energy, Natural Resources and Environmental Law
Time: 5:30p-7:30p T Location: 260
Course Outline: This course will look at the legal framework for international oilfield service contracts, including both substantive law and practical counseling. The issues and solutions discussed in this course will be similar to those that arise in many other international agreements for the sale of services, which commonly form the substance of much international legal work in Houston.
The course would be divided into three basic segments:
1. The first part of the course will set forth the background of international oilfield services contracts, including a review of the underlying treaties, statutes and regulations applicable to these contracts. These would include treaties and laws regulating the creation of oilfield projects, including international trade agreements, such as the WTO. This part will also include a series of discussions and reading assignments relating to enforcement, through litigation or arbitration, of international energy projects, including the New York Convention for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, extraterritorial aspects of U.S. law, and conflict of laws and comparative law issues (e.g., differences between the law of the United States and England, as well as the general principals of law in common law and civil law countries).
2. The second part of the course will involve analysis of a specific hypothetical drilling agreement. We will use a format that involves the client having negotiated the basic terms of the agreement, which must then be dealt with by the attorneys for the client. The class will assist in the initial evaluation of the deal to advise the client concerning the risks that the company has undertaken.
3. The third part of the course will involve an analysis of problems that arise under the hypothetical drilling agreement, including: counseling of the client as the drilling commences and problems begin to arise; counseling the client and assisting the client them in protecting the company’s interests as the contract begins to slide towards dispute resolution; the conduct of the arbitration, with an emphasis on the strategic elements thereof. This will include multi-national mechanisms for the protection of assets.
In each of the above stages, the General Counsel for the client will provide feedback to the class concerning the pragmatic, practical steps that should be taken to protect the client’s interest. The senior partners of your firm will serve as your mentor as to the substantive legal issues before you. The students will be given a project in which they will draft relevant contract provisions based on the materials taught in the first part of the course. The work will be discussed in class, citing specific “client issues and goals.” The students will participate in teams and will then be asked to redraft the provisions to provide solutions. A “model redraft” of the contract will then be given to the class.
The students will be graded in two parts. First, they will be asked to analyze the “model redraft” provisions based on the legal issues and rules matters studied during the the course. This portion of the course will count for 20% of the final grade. Second, 80 percent of the grade will be based on a final exam that will be comprehensive and will cover the entire course material.
Course Syllabus: Syllabus
Course Notes: (Face-to-Face) The UH registration system instruction mode for this course is listed in parenthesis. After student registration opens, there may be instruction mode changes to this course up through two weeks before the first day of classes for the term, but notice of such changes will be sent to then-registered students. For this instruction mode, instructors and students are expected to normally be physically present in the classroom. If the course has a final examination, it will be in a classroom requiring your physical presence. Other assessment, such as a mid term exam, may also be in a classroom. Whether this instructor will offer “remote presence” (starting a zoom meeting from the podium computer to enable student remote access on an occasional basis) for part or all of the semester is not known, but students should not rely on an expectation that remote presence will be available.
This is an LL.M class, and JD students may register, if space is available
Prerequisites:
First Day Assignments:
Final Exam Schedule: 12/5 6-8pm 311
This course will have:
Exam:
Paper:
Satisfies Senior Upper Level Writing Requirement: No
Experiential Course Type: No
Bar Course: No
DistanceEd ABA: No
Pass-Fail Student Election: Available
Course Materials
No book required for this course
