Agenda
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
7:00 p.m.
Film Screenings
Buffalo Creek Flood: Act of Man
Buffalo Creek Revisited
Mimi Pickering
Appalshop Documentary Filmmaker
and Community Media Activist
Discussion Period to Follow
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
*9:00 a.m. – Morning Session – Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom
Convener: Anne Marie Lofaso
Associate Dean for Faculty Research & Development and Professor of Law
Opening Comments
Joyce E. McConnell
William J. Maier, Jr. Dean & Thomas R. Goodwin Professor of Law
Video Greeting from U.S. Senator John “Jay” Rockefeller (D-W.Va.)
Film Screening:
The Buffalo Creek Disaster
Short home movie filmed by A. Preston Henry
9:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Keynote Address
The Survivors’ Lawsuit
Gerald Stern
Lead Counsel Plaintiffs
Dennis Prince et al. v. The Pittson Company
Arnold & Porter LLP
10:30 – 10:45 a.m. — Break
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 p.m.
Panel 1: Legal Aspects
Moderator
Charles DiSalvo
Woodrow A. Potesta Professor of Law
Panelists
Brad Butler
Attorney for Plaintiffs in Dennis Prince, et al. v. The Pittston Company
Arnold & Porter
Daniel R. Murdock
Attorney for Defendants
Partner, Patton Boggs LLP
Gerald Stern
Lead Counsel for Plaintiffs
Dennis Prince et al. v. The Pittson Company
Arnold & Porter LLP
Beth Spence
Coalfield Specialist, American Friends Service Committee
11:45-12:00 p.m.
Mental Health Outcomes Across Two Decades
Bonnie L. Green, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice Chair for Research
Department of Psychiatry
Georgetown University Medical School
12:00 – 1:15p.m.- Lunch Break – Law Lobby
1:30 p.m. – Afternoon Session – Law Event Hall
Convener: John Taylor
Professor of Law
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Panel 2: Role of Children’s Litigation in Buffalo Creek
Moderator
Marjorie McDiarmid
Steptoe & Johnson Professor of Law & Technology
Panelists
Honorable Phillip D. Gaujot
Counsel for Plaintiffs,
Justice v. The Pittston Company
Chief Judge, Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Monongalia County
Bonnie L. Green, Ph.D.
Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry
Georgetown University Medical School
Daniel R. Murdock
Attorney for the Defendants in Molnar case
Partner, Patton Boggs LLP
David N. Webster
Attorney for Plaintiffs
Formerly of Williams & Conley LLP
2:30 – 3:50 p.m.
Panel 3: Environmental Legacy
Moderator
Patrick C. McGinley
Charles H. Haden II Professor of Law
Panelists
James Hecker
Director, Environmental Enforcement Project, Public Justice
Jack Spadaro
Mine Health and Safety Expert
Terry Sammons
Environmental Attorney – Sammons Law Office
Mingo County Redevelopment Authority Board of Directors
3:50 – 4:00 p.m. —Break
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Emotional Distress and Loss of Community
Dr. Kai Erikson
5:00 – 5:15 p.m.
Closing Remarks
