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The fields of cyberlaw and AI law may be relatively new, but West Virginia University College of Law students are already mastering them on an international stage. 

Originally from Richwood, West Virginia, Mary Claire Davis, Teaching Associate Professor at the West Virginia University College of Law, admits she didn’t always want to be a lawyer but knew she wanted to stay in her home state and serve its people. 

Davis comes from a family of public servants – her mother and sister have served as West Virginia public school teachers; her father has been a prosecutor, judge, and mayor; and her grandfather was a delegate in the West Virginia Legislature, county sheriff, and public school teacher.

“At the time I applied to law school, I was seeking a new personal and professional challenge,” said Davis. “Law seemed to be a good fit. I enjoyed reading and writing, and I knew you did a lot of both in law school.” However, she quickly realized that earning a law degree would present more ways to carry on her family’s long history and tradition of service.

After earning her J.D. from WVU Law in 2008, Davis served as a judicial law clerk for twelve years, working for three federal judges at both the trial court and appellate court levels.

On Friday, May 10, West Virginia University College of Law celebrated its 102 graduates at the Coliseum. 

Brad Grimes, Esq., Assistant Director for West Virginia University College of Law’s Meredith Center for Career Services and Professional Development, recently had the privilege of attending and speaking at the National Association for Law Placement’s (NALP) 2024 Annual Education Conference in Boston, Massachusetts. That conference is the single largest, most comprehensive, and most well-respected educational program in the legal placement profession, covering all areas of the profession from recruiting and career counseling to professional development, law student PD, diversity management, and more.

The conference, which ran from April 16-19, 2024, was NALP’s largest to date, with over 1,800 attendees from the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. The educational content offered included much to choose from — over 90 concurrent sessions presented by law school and law firm placement professionals, along with two plenary sessions.

Brad presented one of those concurrent sessions, a well-received program titled LGBTQ+ Safe Zone Training for Legal Professionals. This training instructed participants on contemporary LGBTQ+ core vocabulary, pronouns and appropriate usage, and inclusive language. It also discussed gender diversity as it relates to gender identity and expression and non-binary identities. The session examined some of the obstacles and challenges faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community, historically and presently, along with a discussion of intersectionality and its relationship to the marginalization of sexual and gender minorities. The session’s overall focus was exploring ways that the law placement professionals can work toward becoming better LGBTQ+ allies for their law students and law firm colleagues.

"I am very honored to have had my presentation proposal accepted by NALP, and to be able to represent WVU College of Law’s Career Services and Professional Development office on a national stage," said Grimes. 

Twelve graduates of the West Virginia University College of Law Class of 2024 – approximately 12 percent of the class – have been accepted to prestigious clerkships with state and federal judges across the country. Of these, nine were awarded federal clerkships, constituting nearly nine percent of the graduating class. This statistic places WVU Law among the top law schools in the country for federal clerkship placement.