When third-year law student Jack Swiney went to work at the Kanawha County Public Defender’s
office last summer, he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I expected it to be quite overwhelming, as generally people
in these offices are overworked and underpaid, like firm life without the
luxury of the money,” the St. Albans native said.
Instead, he found himself loving the environment, especially
the opportunity to interact with clients and make an impact even before
graduation.
The West Virginia University College of Law’s Clinical Law
Program was recently awarded a State Opioid Response (SOR) grant of over
$117,000 to provide reentry-related legal services to West Virginians
recovering from substance use disorder. Primarily focusing on establishing
economic stability, the services include bankruptcy, benefits eligibility,
driver’s license reinstatement, and expungements. The SOR grant program is
funded by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration and supported by the West Virginia Department of Health and
Human Resources’ Bureau for Behavioral Health.
“It’s wonderful to see this investment in our state,” remarked
Clinic Director and Associate Professor Nicole McConlogue. “Access to legal
resources will help people get their lives back on track and support them in
achieving a sustained recovery.”
The Clinical Law Program is partnering with the Clarksburg
Mission, a residential recovery facility, as part of its activities under the
grant. As a result, the Mission has already hosted two “lawyer of the day”
events, during which law students provide 30-minute legal consultations to
residents at the Clarksburg Mission. The students, acting under attorney
supervision, answer questions about legal processes, review documents, help
participants complete legal forms, make referrals, and identify next steps.
Both events have been met with
significant demand and were well-received by participants. “Everyone was so
glad to have some help,” Professor McConlogue commented. “But we’re just
showing up and listening. They’re the ones doing the hard part.”
Shawna Pastuch White, a 2008 graduate of the College of Law,
will meet client needs under this new grant in a staff attorney role. Ms. White
is an experienced public interest lawyer, having served as a public defender
and domestic violence advocate. Most recently, she spent six years as a staff
attorney with Disability Rights West Virginia. As staff attorney, Ms. White
will organize and facilitate more of these events both at the Mission and
statewide, while maintaining a caseload and advising law students who represent
reentry clients in the Clinical Law Program.
Seating
begins at 9 a.m. in the Marlyn
E. Lugar Courtroom, with the first case starting at 10 a.m.
Admission is free and open to the public. The arguments will be webcast live on
the court’s YouTube channel.
The
Supreme Court of Appeals is West Virginia’s highest court and the court of last
resort. The five Supreme Court Justices hear appeals of decisions over matters
decided in the state’s lower courts.
The
first cases to be argued fall under the Supreme Court’s Rule 20. These are
typically cases of fundamental public importance, constitutional questions, and
inconsistency among decisions of lower courts.
The Land Use and
Sustainable Development Law Clinic at West Virginia University College of Law (“Land Use Law
Clinic” or “Clinic”) announced today that
has been awarded $ 2,500 in funding from Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
(FHLBank Atlanta), one of the 11 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank
System.
The
award is through the FHLBank Atlanta Heirs’ Property Prevention and Resolution
Grant Initiative, announced
last August. Funding
through this initiative was made available to organizations that submitted
pilot initiatives during the Heirs’ Property Prevention and Resolution Funders’ Forum, held on December 2, 2021.
“We
are grateful to FHLBank Atlanta for their partnership and for devoting the
time, energy, and resources necessary to help address the many issues posed by
heirs’ property,” said Jesse J. Richardson, Jr., a land use attorney with the
clinic. “Heirs’ property has a significant negative impact across West Virginia
and this award will help the Clinic to start to build a foundation to educate
on this issue.”
Kirk
Malmberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of FHLBank Atlanta,
congratulated the Land Use Law Clinic on being selected for an award. “We are
pleased to offer this award and we commend the Clinic for working to solve and
prevent issues associated with heirs’ property,” said Malmberg.
MORGANTOWN, WV —The West Virginia Innocence Project, housed at the West Virginia UniversityCollege of Law, is
one of 13 organizations nationwide selected by the United States Department of
Justice to participate in its Upholding the Rule of Law and Preventing Wrongful
Convictions Program. WVIP will receive $359,208 to bolster its continuing
efforts to investigate and challenge wrongful convictions in the Mountain
State.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia is caught
in a coal trap that’s causing it to miss the clean energy revolution. As a
result, the state faces substantial economic obstacles and serious
environmental and public health concerns.
"The Coal Trap: How West Virginia Was Left Behind in the Clean
Energy Revolution" (Cambridge University Press, 2022)focuses
on the years between 2009 and 2019.
Van Nostrand argues that is when the state’s politicians placed
the interests of the coal industry above the economic and environmental health
of the state and the planet.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A decade ago,
West Virginia University law professor
Charles DiSalvo published the first in-depth biography of Mohandas Gandhi’s
life as an attorney.
“The Man Before the Mahatma: M.K. Gandhi, Attorney at Law” was released in 2012 by
Random House in India and a year later by the University of California Press in
the rest of the world.
“I continue to be humbled by the acceptance that the book has received,” said
DiSalvo, the Woodrow A. Potesta Professor of Law and a member of the WVU faculty since 1979.
DiSalvo’s work on “The Man Before the Mahatma” required that he gain access to, among
many other sources, over 10,000 issues of newspapers in archives in India and South
Africa. He was assisted by a number of research assistants, including WVU
law and history students, as well as other Gandhi scholars in India, Australia,
Britain and Africa.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University students
from underrepresented groups are gaining valuable experience in social justice
work thanks to generous alumni support.
Ellen Archibald, of Minneapolis, formerly an
attorney in Charleston, graduated from the WVU College of Law in 1989. She has
given over $200,000 to establish two social justice awards at WVU — one for
students at the College of Law and one for
students enrolled in School of Social Work programs at the
Eberly College
of Arts and Sciences.
For the School of Social Work award, preference
goes to minority students – specifically Black, Indigenous and people of color
– who are completing a field placement or internship focused on social justice.
Deana Morrow, director of the
School of Social Work, said Archibald’s gift has provided financial support to
students completing internships in behavioral health, immigrant and refugee
child care, legal justice, prison re-entry and trauma-informed care settings.
Recipients have received $10,000 to $15,000
each to assist with travel costs and living expenses associated with their
internships, which are required to obtain a social work license.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia University law student spent her summer advocating
for children in the justice system.
“Children are the most resilient members of society,” said Olivia Lee, a third-year student at the WVU College of Law. “People often forget
that they are more than the worst thing that has happened to them.”
Lee worked on 10 to 15 cases in Charleston, West Virginia, for ChildLaw Services. It is the only non-profit
law firm in the Mountain State that represents children exclusively, no matter
the circumstance. Most of Lee's work involved abuse and neglect cases stemming from the opioid epidemic.
“I met with my clients to evaluate their needs versus their wants,” she said.
“I was able to argue on behalf of my clients in Circuit Court, write appeals, and
actually get to know my clients.”
