Teaching Professor of Law Emeritus
Biography
Professor Tom Patrick is in his 23rd year of law school teaching, primarily at the West Virginia University College of Law. He has also served as Visiting Professor at the Notre Dame Law School in 2002-03 and as Director of Lawyering Process at the Charlotte School of Law in 2009-10. He received his law degree from West Virginia where he served on the editorial boards of the West Virginia Law Review and the Journal of College and University Law. Following graduation, he clerked for seven years for the Honorable Robert E. Maxwell, United States District Judge. He is admitted to practice in West Virginia and North Carolina.
During his tenure, Professor Patrick has taught legal research and writing, appellate advocacy, alternative dispute resolution, interviewing, counseling, negotiation, and mediation. As an extension of his teaching, Professor Patrick has provided continuing legal education seminars and skills training for the West Virginia State Bar, the West Virginia Supreme Court, the Department of Education, Health and Human Services, the Public Service Commission, and many other entities. He has developed mediation initiatives throughout West Virginia for its magistrate, family, circuit, and federal courts. He directs West Virginia University’s Faculty and Staff Mediation Program.
Professor Patrick was selected for the West Virginia University College of Law Faculty Service Award in 1997; he received the West Virginia State Bar recognition for “Outstanding Leadership and Dedication to ADR in West Virginia” in 2002; he was awarded a West Virginia State Bar Certificate of Merit in 2008; and he was selected as a West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow in 2012.
Education
- J.D., 1985, West Virginia University College of Law
- M.A., English Education, 1981, West Virginia University
- M.A., Counseling, 1975, West Virginia University
- B.A., 1971, Glenville State College
Publications
- “Writing Effectively in the Legal Environment,” The West Virginia Lawyer, April-June 2013
- “Mediation: Promise, Process and Pitfalls,” Views & Visions, Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love Newsletter, Fall 1995.
- “Using Simplified Cases to Introduce Synthesis,” Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing_, Vol. 3, No. 3, Spring 1995.
Teaching Experience
- Teaching Professor, West Virginia University, 1991-present
- Director of Lawyering Process, Charlotte School of Law, 2009-10.
- Visiting Professor, Notre Dame Law School, 2002-03.
