Teaching Associate Professor
Education
- J.D., West Virginia University College of Law, 2008 (Order of the Coif)
- M.A., English, West Virginia University, 2003
- B.A., English, Roanoke College, 2001 (magna cum laude)
Biography
Mary Claire Davis is a Teaching Associate Professor at the West Virginia University College of Law, where she teaches Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing. She has also taught Appellate Advocacy and the Federal Judicial Externship course. A native of Richwood, West Virginia, she graduated magna cum laude from Roanoke College in 2001 and earned a Master’s degree in English from WVU’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, where she also taught English 101.
Davis graduated Order of the Coif from WVU College of Law in 2008, where she served as Editor in Chief of the *West Virginia Law Review*. She clerked for the Honorable Robert B. King on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Honorable Joseph R. Goodwin on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. She later served nearly a decade as a career clerk for the Honorable Stephanie D. Thacker on the Fourth Circuit.
In private practice, Davis worked in the appellate and business litigation groups at Frost Brown Todd LLP in Charleston. She handled appeals before the Fourth Circuit, the West Virginia Supreme Court, and the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals, and also represented small businesses in appeals before the Small Business Administration related to PPP loan forgiveness.
She currently serves on the CJA Appellate and Discretionary Panels for the Fourth Circuit, representing indigent clients in criminal and habeas corpus appeals.
Bar Admissions: West Virginia; U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Publications
- Keeping All American Workers Paid and Employed? , 126 W. Va. L. Rev. 537 (2024) — An analysis of how the Paycheck Protection Program impacted small businesses with independent contractors.
Teaching Experience
Davis teaches a range of courses at the College of Law, including:
- Legal Analysis, Research, and Writing
- Appellate Advocacy
- Federal Judicial Externship
