News

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA —  The College of Law has launched the Appalachian Justice Initiative (AJI), a group of law school faculty and staff working to address poverty in Appalachia through legal scholarship, policy advocacy, legal services and outreach.

“The College of Law faculty created the AJI to empower West Virginias in need of legal resources and assistance and to promote research and scholarship at the intersection of law and rural livelihood,” said Jennifer Oliva, director of the WVU Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic. “As a land-grant institution and the only law school in the state, we take seriously our charge to serve our fellow West Virginians and Appalachian neighbors.”

AJI’s mission is to develop programming and outreach projects that provide West Virginians and other Appalachian residents with enhanced legal services and education. Services will include workshops, meetings and legal teach-ins in communities throughout the state.

Members of AJI will also promote awareness and foster discussion on legal and policy issues in Appalachia through panel discussions, symposiums, and op-eds. Topics of conversation will include issues surrounding criminal justice, economic development and employment, education, environment, health, infrastructure and transportation.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – United Nations lawyer Jon MacDonald will deliver the Archibald McDougall Lecture in International Law on April 5 at 12 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at WVU Law.

A prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), MacDonald will discuss sexual violence in international conflicts.

Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

“When these crimes were first prosecuted in tribunals after World War Two, people viewed sexual violence as an inevitable and foreseeable side consequence of armed conflict,” MacDonald said. “Now, the International Criminal Court has a much better, more true position that embodies the thought that rape is a weapon of war. Sexual violence, along with a whole spectrum of crimes like murder and destruction, is used after land is won to drive the population out and make sure they don’t come back.”

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The West Virginia Law Review is hosting a symposium on March 31 to explore the impact of evolving technology on criminal investigations and law.  

Featuring national legal scholars and law enforcement experts, the symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at the West Virginia University College of Law. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Topics to be discussed include cell phone surveillance, the internet of things, encrypted email and artificial Intelligence.

“With technology advancing in leaps and bounds, it is imperative that the law recognizes and covers the issues that are sure to arise,” said Ben Wilson, current editor-in-chief of the West Virginia Law Review.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — WVU Law is again ranked a top 100 law school by U.S. News & World Report. 

In its “2018 Best Graduate Schools” guide, the magazine ranks WVU Law #96 out of 196 accredited law schools.  

“The U.S. News top 100 is a highly competitive group of law schools,” said Gregory Bowman, dean of the College of Law. “The fact that we consistently maintain our position among the best law schools in the country is a testimony to the innovative programs, high-quality legal education and career-building opportunities we offer our students. Our efforts would not be successful without a dedicated faculty and staff and the support of alumni, friends, the legal community, and WVU leadership.” 

To compile its 2018 law school rankings, U.S. News used 2015 and 2016 statistics in categories such as peer assessment, LSAT scores, employment rate, and bar passage rate. 

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — WVU Law hosts its annual Public Interest Advocates (PIA) Auction and Dinner on March 23. The public is invited to attend.

The lumberjack-themed evening begins at 6 p.m. with a buffet dinner in the College of Law lobby. Tickets for the dinner can be purchased for $10 at the door.

The auction will start at 7 p.m. in the College’s Event Hall. Live auction items and silent auction items will be up for bid, and there will also be raffle items and a door prize. Admissions to the auction is free.

Some of the auction items include Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates tickets, golf packages, signed WVU basketball memorabilia, tickets to concerts and theater performances, a week’s stay at a Myrtle Beach condo and weekend getaways.

Update 3/18/17: Congratulations to winners University of North Carolina School of Law and finalists George Washington University School of Law.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Law students from across the country will be in Morgantown March 16-18 for the seventh annual National Energy and Sustainability Moot Court Competition hosted by WVU Law.

Students in the competition will argue a legal problem involving a state’s effort to subsidize electricity generators using particular fuel sources, such as coal, in order to produce local economic benefits. The problem also addresses whether such measures interfere with interstate commerce or federal regulation of electricity prices.

The competition’s early rounds through semifinals will be held at WVU’s Erickson Alumni Center on March 16-18. The final round will be held on March 18 at 2:30 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at the WVU College of Law.

HOUSTON, TEXAS — Arthur L. Bryan II, a 2009 WVU Law graduate who works for Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals, Inc., has been elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Bryan is a transactional attorney for the Pennsylvania Chemicals project (aka Project Franklin), a polyethylene and ethane cracker facility to be constructed in western Pennsylvania. 

In his current role, Bryan negotiates and advises on engineering, procurement and construction agreements, subcontract agreements, technical services and purchasing agreements. He also advises senior management on intellectual property, joint-venture and non-disclosure matters, and contractual and compliance obligations. 

In previous positions at Bechtel, Bryan was the Prime Contract Administrator for Pennsylvania Chemicals and a Subcontract Formation Specialist for a large complex liquefied natural gas (LNG) Front-End Engineering and Design project for Anadarko Petrochemical Company’s Mozambique Gas Development Project. He was also the Contract Specialist on the Angola LNG Project in Houston and on site in Soyo, Angola. Bryan joined Bechtel in 2010.