Oklahoma native and “Washington power lawyer” W. DeVier Pierson graduated from Oklahoma City’s Classen High School where he was a national extemporaneous speaking champion and state debate champion. He received his higher education at the University of Oklahoma, including his law degree after serving two years in the U.S. Army in Korea. Pierson entered private practice in 1957 in Oklahoma City and then from 1965 to 1967 served as Chief Counsel, Joint Committee on the Organization of the U.S. Congress. From 1967 through 1969, he was Special Counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson. For over 30 years, Pierson has been known as a premier civil trial and appellate lawyer and a specialist in complex litigation, particularly in the domestic and international energy field and in dealing with the U.S. Department of Energy. He received the University of Oklahoma Regents Award for outstanding alumnus in 1995 and established a Pierson Professorship at the College of Law. Pierson served as co-chairman of the Board of Visitors of the College of Law for twenty years and in 2011 was one of the initial inductees into the Order of the Owl, the College of Law’s Hall of Fame.