NEWS RELEASE: Western Resources Legal Center Begins Spring Semester Under New Leadership with Renewed Focus on Training Next Generation of Natural Resource Lawyers
Under the new leadership, law students will get hands-on experience representing natural resource industry clients, as well as experience in advocacy and policy development
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 16, 2026
Contact: Samantha Bayer
Oregon Property Owners Association
sbayer@oregonpropertyowners.org
Portland, Ore. – The Western Resources Legal Center (WRLC) is pleased to announce the beginning of a new chapter for the organization that provides hands-on experience for second- and third-year law students at Lewis & Clark Law School.
Going forward, the WRLC will be led by adjunct professors Dave Hunnicutt and Samantha Bayer, both practicing attorneys with the Oregon Property Owners Association (OPOA), an organization which seeks to protect the right of private property owners to use their property. Hunnicutt and Bayer plan to refocus the WRLC on its mission of training law students to represent natural resource clients across the west.
“We are very excited about refocusing the mission of WRLC on getting students hands-on experience working on behalf of natural resource industries,” said Dave Hunnicutt, WRLC adjunct professor and President of OPOA and the OPOA Legal Center. “We want to give students the real skills that will make them top-tier candidates after graduation for jobs at companies or law firms that represent natural resources in the west.”
Second- and third-year law students in the WRLC program will gain firsthand experience representing clients in agriculture, ranching, forestry, energy production, mining, fisheries and more. Through the WRLC curriculum, students will learn about litigation, regulatory advocacy, transactional work, and policy development.
“This is an exciting new chapter for WRLC,” said Betsy Johnson, WRLC Board Chair. “Our mission is to get the next generation of lawyers ready to represent the natural resource industries that form the backbone of Oregon’s economy, urban and rural. We’re thrilled to have Dave and Samantha leading our program.”
WRLC students will not only learn traditional legal practice on behalf of natural resource clients across the state, but will also learn advocacy skills, including legislative engagement at the Oregon State Capitol, how to provide testimony before Congress, and how to participate in regulatory proceedings.
Students will also be placed with outside law firms or organizations where they will work directly with industry professionals in the agriculture and natural resource industries throughout the semester.
“As an alumna of WRLC, I am thrilled to be returning to the program as an instructor,” said Samantha Bayer, WRLC adjunct professor and General Counsel of OPOA and the OPOA Legal Center. “This will provide much-needed instruction for the next generation of natural resource lawyers and advocates in our state.”
The latest cohort of WRLC students began classes at Lewis & Clark Law School with Hunnicutt and Bayer on January 14, 2026.
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About the Western Resources Legal Center
The Western Resources Legal Center is a 501 (c)(3) educational organization housed at Lewis & Clark Law School that provides law students with quality instruction and opportunities to develop their legal skills and knowledge of natural resources and environmental laws through the legal representation of clients active in natural resource related industries that will lead to careers as attorneys and policymakers with an appreciation for the challenges faced by, and importance of, natural resource industries.
About the Oregon Property Owners Association
As Oregon’s largest property owners’ association, OPOA’s mission is to protect the right of private property owners to make use of their property. In the courts, at the legislature and ballot box, working with the media, and through its many educational efforts, OPOA works to reduce the regulatory barriers that hamper Oregon’s private property owners.