Скачать или смотреть Interview of David Pierce by Rex Buchanan and Mike Lennen, October 2, 2023

Retired Professor David Pierce recalls how he became interested in environmental policy and in oil and gas law. After starting his career, this native Kansan returned to the state where it was easy to do business in the oil and gas industry. In this interview Pierce identified several factors that contribute to the positive business atmosphere, including land ownership patterns, the location of Kansas' oil and gas resources, and a general attitude that regulation is a means by which reasonable resource extraction is facilitated. He identifies two areas where solutions need to be identified: one old issue, in the eastern part of the state where unplugged wells continue to be a problem; and the other a newer issue of increased seismic activity associated with new drilling techniques. Pierce also reviews several of the key federal and state laws and court decisions that have shaped the nexus of energy and environmental policy in the oil and gas industry.

A printable copy of the transcript of this interview can be accessed at https://ksoralhistory.org.

After a 33-year teaching career at Washburn University’s School of Law, in 2020 David Pierce retired as emeritus Professor of Law and Norman R. Pozez Chair in Business and Transactional Law. Professor Pierce’s teaching and scholarship focused on oil and gas law, energy law, and environmental law, with an emphasis on Kansas law and policy. He also devoted substantial time to teaching these subjects to practicing lawyers.

Professor Pierce received his BA degree from Kansas State College of Pittsburg (1974), his JD from Washburn University School of Law (1977), and his Master of Law (LL.M.--Energy Law) from the University of Utah College of Law (1982).

After graduating from Washburn, he worked as a solo practitioner in Neodesha, Kansas, and as the City Attorney for Cherryvale, Kansas. Upon completing his LL.M. degree, he worked in-house for Shell Oil Company in Houston, Texas. He left Shell for his first tenure-track teaching job at Indiana University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Following a visiting professorship at Washburn, he joined the University of Tulsa College of Law where he taught until returning to Washburn. Professor Pierce also served, at various times, in an Of Counsel capacity to the Gable & Gotwals firm in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the Shughart Thomson & Kilroy firm in Kansas City, Missouri.

This interview was conducted by the Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. (KOHP), a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) that records, transcribes, and makes available to the public, oral histories of various aspects of life in Kansas. KOHP is supported by grants and donations, including grants from Humanities Kansas, Evergy, and ITC Great Plains. KOHP does not charge for non-commercial use of the oral histories it collects.

Suggested citation:Pierce, David (October 2, 2023) interviewed by Rex Buchanan and Mike Lennen. Video file of an oral history interview conducted for the Kansas Oral History Project, Inc. Retrieved from    • Interview of David Pierce by Rex Buchanan ...  .

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