News

WASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden has announced his nomination of Christopher J. Williamson for Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Williamson is a 2010 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law.

From the White House news release:

A proud Appalachian and native of the coalfields of southern West Virginia, Williamson currently serves as Senior Counsel to Chairman Lauren McFerran of the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to joining the NLRB, he served in the Obama-Biden Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor as a member of the senior leadership team at the Mine Safety and Health Administration. In that role, he advised the Assistant Secretary for MSHA on all aspects of agency policy, operations, and communications. 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Professor Jesse Richardson of the West Virginia University College of Law has been named co-editor of Water Law Newsletter.

The newsletter is a national publication of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and provides information and updates on federal and state water law developments. 

As co-editor the Water Law Newsletter, Richardson will help expand the publication's coverage of laws in the eastern United States. He already serves as the newsletter’s reporter for Virginia and West Virginia.

In addition to teaching, Richardson  is the lead land use attorney in WVU’s Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic. His areas of expertise are agricultural law, land use law and water law. 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three students at the West Virginia University College of Law are learning firsthand how to provide quality legal representation for children in abuse and neglect cases.

Rachael Mullins, Carrie Miller and Christian LaParne are participating in a new externship program through the West Virginia Court Improvement Program Board. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has designated the CIP with improving the state’s foster care and judicial processes.

The students, all 2Ls, are conducting 100 hours of fieldwork in addition to their semester-long externship course. They attend hearings and multi-disciplinary team meetings, tour group homes and juvenile centers, make home visits, conduct legal research and prepare legal documents.

Mullins, Miller and LaParne are supervised by attorneys from Lyons Phillips Legal Group, PLLC, and Jessica Haught, director of the Fitzsimmons Center for Litigation and Advocacy at WVU Law.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Graduate student Hannah Jack is making her mark as the first social work intern in the law clinics at the West Virginia University College of Law.

While earning her Master of Social Work from the WVU School of Social Work, Jack is helping the law clinics serve clients holistically, including connecting them to resources to improve their quality of life. She also consults with law students working in the clinics on topics such as communication and stressors in their relationships with clients.

“I hope to pave the way for this kind of partnership to continue in the future and to demonstrate the role a social worker can play in helping the law clinics provide legal resources,” Jack said. “This role holds opportunities to collaborate with a variety of people: lawyers, clients and even other social workers.”

Jack is supervised by Nicole McConlogue, associate professor of law and clinic director. She sees the potential for social work graduate students to enhance the legal representation the clinics already provide.