News

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia University College of Law recently named attorney Stephanie M. Coleman program director of its Low Income Taxpayer Clinic.

As program director, Coleman will make free legal representation available to low-income West Virginians dealing with tax controversy matters. She will supervise law students working with clients to receive unclaimed refunds, to resolve tax amount disputes, or to assign tax debt responsibility.

The LITC is funded by a grant from the Internal Revenue Service, which recognizes West Virginia as being underrepresented in tax-related legal services.

Coleman is a career veteran of the LITC program, having managed clinics for Legal Aid of West Virginia and Rhode Island Legal Services. She has also been a team leader for the tax representation firm JK Harris & Company.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia will convene at the West Virginia University College of Law on April 5 to hear arguments in five cases.

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 circuit 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.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia University College of Law is hosting an online auction to support students who work in public interest law.

The Public Interest Advocates Spring Auction begins on March 21 at 9 a.m. and ends on March 25 at 5 p.m. Proceeds help pay fellowships for students who work for low-income and at-risk clients at legal agencies in West Virginia.

To participate in the auction, bidders must register at 32auctions.com/wvupia2022auction.

Last year’s PIA auction helped fund 15 fellowships for law students to work at organizations such as Legal Aid of West Virginia, ChildLaw Services, Senior Legal Aid and Mountain State Justice. It also helped fund two other students working in public defenders' offices.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — S. Sean Tu, a West Virginia University College of Law professor, has co-authored a new book on U.S. intellectual property law.

“Fundamentals of United States Intellectual Property Law” (Wolters Kluwer, 2022, 7th ed.) is a revised and updated comprehensive review of U.S. copyright, patent, and trademark laws. The book introduces recent amendments to these types of law and examines their impact.

“Patent law is constantly changing with important topics such as the growing prominence of the Western District of Texas as a venue for patent lawsuits, changes to Inter Partes Review procedure, and the use of sovereign immunity to protect patent validity,” said Tu.

Major themes in the book include registration procedures; scope of exclusive rights; transfer of interests; fair use; rights in unregistered marks; protection of computer software, code, and databases; remedies and procedural issues in infringement actions.