Students and a faculty member from the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León) in Mexico participated in the second International Energy and Environmental Law Summer Course at the University of Houston Law Center.
The two-week course was first offered in 2019 but was put on hold for COVID. It provided students the opportunity to study energy and environmental law, specialized topics that were new to many of the students coming from Mexico.
“However, after seeing energy law and environmental law in action, it is really amazing,” said Frieda Arreola, a student from Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in a statement from the University of Houston Law Center. “I am very thankful for being a part of this because I got to see a part of the law that I didn’t know of.”
The University of Houston Law Center and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León have teamed up since 2014 to provide education on international energy law and dispute resolution. The summer course aims to inform students on these topics and broaden their career opportunities.
Students in the program took four hours of classes each day and visited businesses around Houston, “the Energy Capital of the World,” according to Julian Cardenas, one of the research professors who taught the course. The students visited the General Consulate of Mexico and met with the International Arbitration Team of Locke Lord Houston Office. They also went to the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences and participated in a final career panel on international law.
“The University of Nuevo León puts in the effort to build relationships with UH and helps you to see how the law system works in the U.S., especially in Houston — the Energy Capital of the World,” Arreola stated. “This allows you to see a lot of the culture and the field you are pursuing in unique ways.”
The course was taught by Professors Victor Flatt and Julian Cardenas and faculty member Ricardo Colmenter. They hope to continue the program next summer.
