Roderick E. Wetsel is a founding partner at the firm of Wetsel & Lederle, LLP in Sweetwater, Texas where he has practiced law for 36 years. He is Board Certified in Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Mr. Wetsel received a B.A. with high honors and special honors in History from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975. In 1974, while earning his undergraduate degree, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He later received his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1977.
Mr. Wetsel is an Assistant Editor of the Texas Title Standards Joint Editorial Board, where he has served as a member since 1991. Mr. Wetsel was also a member of the Texas, Oil, Gas, and Energy Resources Law Council from 2003 to 2006 and currently is a charter member of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law, & Business.
Mr. Wetsel currently teaches Wind Law and Mineral Titles at the Texas Tech School of Law.
In 2011, Mr. Wetsel co-authored the first treatise on Texas Wind Law with Professor Ernest E. Smith, Steven K. DeWolf, and Becky H. Diffen, which is published by LexisNexis and revised annually. In the 2015 edition, the title was changed to Wind Law to make the book more national in scope and is now co-authored by Wetsel along with Professor Ernest E. Smith, Becky Diffen, and Professor Melissa Powers. Additionally, Mr. Wetsel has written numerous other articles on wind energy as well as oil and gas law. He is a frequent speaker on wind energy issues throughout the United States.
Honors
Ernest E. Smith Lifetime Achievement Award in Energy Law (February 2019)
Published Works
K.K. DiVivier and Roderick E. Wetsel, "Jousting at Windmills: When Wind Power Development Collides with Oil, Gas and Mineral Development," 55 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 9-1 (2009)
Co-Author with Steven K. DeWolf, “Ride Like the Wind: Selected Issues in Multi-Party Wind Lease Negotiations,” 1 Texas A&M Journal of Real Property Law 447-464 (2014)
Co-Author with Ernest Smith, Becky H. Diffen and Melissa Powers, Wind Law (published by LexisNexis Matthew Bender 2015)
Co-Author with Becky H. Diffen, Lexis Practice Advisor Series – Texas Business & Commercial Fundamentals of Wind Leasing Transactions (published by LexisNexis Matthew Bender 2015)
Co-Author with Laura M. Bowen, “Avoid Voidance: How to Draft Oil and Gas Legal Descriptions in Compliance with the Texas Statute of Frauds” (published in Volume 53, Fall 2020, Number 1, Texas Tech Law Review)
Author, “Experience is a Dear Teacher – The Texas Wind Decommissioning Statute” (published in Volume 6, Page 245, Texas A&M Journal of Property Law, 2021)
Co-Author with Laura M. Bowen, “The Sun Ariseth: A Guide to Drafting Solar Leases” (submitted to the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas, and Energy Law, University of Texas School of Law August 2020)
Co-Author, “Emerging Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law: Leases, Tax Abatements, and Ownership of Wind Rights” Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Section Report, Vol. 28, No. 3, March 2004
Classes & Seminars
Joe Wertz, "Oklahoma Wind Power Companies Run Into Headwinds," NPR telephone interview on August 4, 2014 (Published August 19, 2014)
Author/Speaker for the 1995 Advanced Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Course, “How to Obtain a Receivership Oil and Gas Lease"
Author/Speaker for the 2002 Advanced Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Course, "Receiverships Revisited"
Author/Speaker for the 2003 Advanced Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Course, “Anatomy of a Wind Energy Lease”
Author/Speaker for the 2004 Oil, Gas and Wind - Leases and Disputes Seminar, Midland, Texas, sponsored by St. Mary’s University School of Law, “Wind Leases in Texas”
Author/Speaker for the 2004 Agricultural Law Seminar, Texas Tech School of Law, sponsored by the State Bar of Texas, “Wind Leases in Texas”
Author/Speaker, Dallas Bar Association, Energy Law Section, October 20, 2004, “Wind Leases and Ownership of Wind Rights in Texas”
Author/Speaker, 2005 Southwest Land Institute, Dallas, Texas, April 7, 2005, “Wind Leases and Ownership of Wind Rights in Texas”
Program Director, 32nd Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Institute, Houston, Texas, 2006, sponsored by The University of Texas School of Law
Author/Speaker, 2006 Agricultural Law Seminar, Texas Tech University School of Law, Lubbock, Texas, April 7, 2006
Co-Author/Speaker, Ector County Bar Meeting, Odessa, Texas, September 14, 2006, “Current Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law”
Co-Author/Speaker, Midland County Bar Meeting, Midland, Texas, Nov. 16, 2006, “Current Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law”
Co-Author/Speaker, 2007 Wind Energy Institute, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, February 26, 2007, “Current Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law 2007: Leases, Ownership of Wind Rights and Litigation”
Co-Author/Speaker, 29th Annual Advanced Real Estate Law Course, State Bar of Texas, San Antonio, Texas, July 12-14, 2007, “Current Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law 2007: Leases, Ownership of Wind Rights and Litigation”
Co-Author/Speaker, 9th Annual West Texas “Fall” Seminar, sponsored by the Ector County and Midland County Bar Associations, January 25, 2008
Co-Author/Speaker, Texas Bar CLE Live Webcast, sponsored by the State Bar of Texas, Austin, Texas, January 31, 2008
Co-Author/Speaker, Wind Energy Institute 2008, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, February 19 & 20, 2008, “Current Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law 2008"
Co-Author/Speaker, PBLA Spring Education Seminar, Midland, Texas, April 16, 2008, “Current Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law 2008"
Speaker/Co-Author, University of Houston Law Foundation Oil, Gas and Energy Law (Houston, May 1-2, 2008; Dallas, May 8-9, 2008; Austin Video, June 26-27, 2008), “Current Issues in Texas Wind Energy Law 2008"
Speaker/Co-Author, AAPL Santa Fe Land Institute (Santa Fe, New Mexico, September 15, 2008) “Current Issues in Wind Energy 2008"
Speaker/Co-Author, 2009 Wind Energy Institute, The University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, January 20-22, 2009, “Current Issues in Wind Energy Law 2009"
Speaker/Co-Author, 20th Annual Advanced Real Estate Drafting Course–Texas Bar CLE (Houston, Texas, March 5-6, 2009) “Current Issues in Wind Energy Law 2009"
Co-Speaker, (with Steven K. DeWolf, Bellinger & DeWolf, Dallas, Texas), Texas Bar CLE Live Webcast, April 9, 2009, “Wind Energy Law Update”
Speaker, Lone Star Solar Summit, Sweetwater, Texas, April 21, 2009, “Solar Energy–Toward a Unified Energy Land Lease”
Speaker/Co-Author, AAPL Annual Meeting, Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort, Clearwater, Florida, June 17-20, 2009, “Current Issues in Wind Energy Law 2009"
Speaker/Co-Author, 55th Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute, San Francisco, California, July 23-25, 2009, “Jousting at Windmills: When Wind Power Development Collides with Oil, Gas, and Mineral Development” (2009)
Speaker/Co-Author, 36th Annual NADOA Institute, Washington D.C., Wardman Park Marriott, September 23-25th 2009, “Current Issues In Wind Energy Law 2009"
K.K. DiVivier and Roderick E. Wetsel, "Jousting at Windmills: When Wind Power Development Collides with Oil, Gas and Mineral Development," 55 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 9-1 (2009)
Speaker/Co-Author, 2010 Wind, Solar and Renewables Institute, February 2-4, 2010, Austin Convention Center, Austin, Texas, “Special Legal Issues When Renewables and Oil and Gas Projects are Jointly Developed” and “Legal Issues Related to Wind, Solar and Geothermal Development”
Speaker/Co-Author, Permian Basin Oil & Gas Law-2010, February 19, 2010, Midland Center, Midland, Texas, “Conflicts Between Wind Leases and Oil, Gas and Mineral Development”
Speaker/Co-Author, Permian Area Lease and Title Analysts Spring Seminar, April 8, 2010, Petroleum Club, Midland, Texas, “Conflicts Between Wind Leases and Oil, Gas and Mineral Development”
Speaker/Co-Author, 32nd Annual Advanced Real Estate Law Course, July 8-10, 2010, JW Marriot Hill Country Resort & Spa, “Current Issues in Wind Energy Law 2010: Conflicts Between Wind Development and Oil and Gas Development”
Speaker/Panelist, University of Texas 2011 Wind, Solar and Renewables Institute, February 22-24, 2011, AT&T Conference Center, Austin, Texas
Speaker/Author, 37th Annual Ernest E. Smith Oil, Gas & Mineral Law Institute, Houston, Texas, April 8, 2011, “Mineral Receiverships and Beyond”
Speaker/Co-Author, 29th Annual Advanced Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Course, October 6-7, 2011, Houston, Texas, “Basics of Wind Energy”
Speaker, Halfmoon Seminars, HalfMoon, LLC, July 12, 2012, Midland, Texas, “Conflicts between Wind Developers and Oil and Gas Companies”
Speaker, Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants Advanced Estate Planning Conference, “Ride Like the Wind: Selected Issues in Wind Law for the Estate Planner,” August 24, 2012, San Antonio, Texas
Speaker/Co-Author, 2017 Renewable Energy Law Course, “Anatomy of a Solar Lease: The Landowner Perspective,” The University of Texas School of Law, January 31, 2017, Austin, Texas
Lecture to U. S. Department of State, “Advanced Energy Course,” The University of Texas, September, 2017, Austin, Texas
Speaker, University of St. Gallens, “Preview of Wind Law,” The University of Texas School of Law, October 24, 2017, Austin, Texas
- Speaker/Co-Author, 12th Annual John Huffaker Course in Agricultural Law, “A Place in the Sun: Solar Leases in Texas,” Texas Tech University School of Law, May 24, 2018, Lubbock, Texas
- Speaker/Author, Annual Advanced Oil, Gas and Energy Resources Law Course, “Receiverships Redux” October 20-21, 2018, Houston, Texas
- Speaker/Author, LLM Master Course in Wind Law, “Global Perspective,” The University of Texas School of Law, October 26, 2018, Austin, Texas
- Interview for Netflix series, “Our Planet,” on wind energy, November 2018, by Silverback Productions
- Speaker/Author, LLM Master Course in Wind Law, “Negotiating and Drafting a Wind Energy Lease and New Legislative Developments in Wind,” The University of Texas School of Law, February 22, 2019, Austin, Texas
- Speaker/Author, 21st Annual Permian Basin Oil & Gas Law – 2019, “Receivership Leasing,” March 1, 2019, Midland, Texas
