The Energy & Mineral Law Foundation’s annual Fall Symposium was held October 15-17, 2024, at the Central Bank Center conference facilities in Lexington, Kentucky. Nearly 140 individuals attended the Symposium, which included presentations on a wide variety of energy issues.

The Symposium kicked off with a well-attended Networking Happy Hour hosted by the EMLF Young Professionals Committee at the Bluegrass Tavern on Tuesday evening, October 15. The substantive portion of the program began on Wednesday morning, October 16, with an opening presentation on PJM capacity prices and how they serve as price signals for resource adequacy and reliability in the electric power industry. This was immediately followed by two topics important to mineral title—fixed versus floating royalty disputes in oil and gas or mineral deeds and the potential impact of tax sales on mineral title. The remainder of the first morning saw presentations on labor and employment law issues, including issues relevant to the coal industry, and the impact of the demise of the Chevron doctrine on energy regulation.

The afternoon presentations on the first day included updates on personal injury and death claims in the utility industry, PFAS litigation, and ethics presentations. The final round of an energy law moot court competition held in conjunction with the Fall Symposium was also held on the afternoon of the first day.

On the second day, speakers made presentations on local regulation of carbon capture and storage (CCUS), onshore wind issues, contracting for pore space rights for CCUS, trending topics in mineral bankruptcies, Black Lung Trust Fund issues, internal investigations, and ethics issues relating to the use of expert witnesses.

The participants in the Fall Symposium included a significant number of young lawyers, as well as a large number of law students attended. The student attendees included 23 law students from Louisiana State University, 14 law students from the Appalachian School of Law, and 2 law students from West Virginia University. In addition, law students from Oklahoma University and two teams from William and Mary participated in the Moot Court competition co-hosted by EMLF and the Appalachian School of Law in conjunction with the Fall Symposium.

The students who attended seemed to enjoy the Symposium. LSU Law Professor Keith Hall said, “My students had a great time. They are ready to come back next year. They enjoyed meeting lawyers and hearing the presentations, and some of them stayed an extra day to take a tour of a bourbon distillery and to watch some races at Keeneland.”

The co-chairs of the Fall Symposium were Karen Greenwell of Wyatt Tarrant & Combs, Guy Hensley of Warrior Met Coal, and Larry Skrzysowski of EQT.