Pierce Receives 2017 Robert L. Gernon Award for Outstanding Service to Continuing Legal Education in Kansas

Professor David E. Pierce, '77, was selected by the Kansas Continuing Legal Education Commission (KCLEC) as the recipient of the 2017 Robert L. Gernon Award. He teaches Oil and Gas Law, Advanced Oil and Gas Law, Energy Regulation, and Drafting Contracts and Conveyances. Pierce served as director of the law school’s Oil and Gas Law Center from its inception in 2013 through June 2017 and now leads the newly formed Advisory Board.  The Center operates one of the most extensive oil and gas law programs in the nation.

Established in 2005 and presented annually by the KCLEC, the Robert L. Gernon Award for Outstanding Service to Continuing Legal Education in Kansas recognizes those individuals or organizations that have demonstrated a unique commitment to legal education for lawyers in Kansas and have provided outstanding service to continuing legal education. The award is named for Kansas Supreme Court Justice Robert L. Gernon (1943 - 2005), whose career included tireless devotion to the training, education, and professionalism of attorneys in Kansas and across the nation.

Pierce was nominated for the award by John W. Broomes of the Hinkle Law Firm, LLC, and Timothy E. McKee of the firm Triplett Woolf Garretson, LLC. In their nomination letter, McKee and Broomes highlight the impact that Pierce has had on the legal profession. “He has devoted innumerable hours to preparing and delivering continuing legal education through the Kansas Bar Association; The Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation; the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation; Washburn University School of Law; and many other schools and institutions.”

The nomination package submitted for Pierce supports this statement by including more than 20 pages of publications, articles, and presentations where he has devoted his time and energy to educating groups about Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law. He is an outstanding representation of what it means to be a recipient of the Gernon award. On both a professional and personal level, Pierce is viewed with utmost respect and affection by his peers, colleagues, and, especially his former students. This was evident when the award was presented on October 6, 2017, in Wichita, Kansas, at the Kansas Bar Association luncheon during the annual Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association meeting.

Pierce is a past president of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and a member of the Kansas Bar Association and American Law Institute.