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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia University College of Law is offering a free webinar on understanding the Electoral College on November 3, Election Day, at noon.

The presenter is Keith Hoover, administrative counsel for the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He will discuss what a vote for president means, the history of the Electoral College, how it works, criticisms and possible reforms.

The webinar is hosted by West Virginia Continuing Legal Education. It is free, but registration is required.

WHEELING, W. Va.  – U.S. Attorney Bill Powell has hired four new Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Northern District of West Virginia.

Christopher L. Bauer, Eleanor F. Hurney, Maximilian F. Nogay, and Clayton J. Reid, all recent graduates of WVU Law, were sworn in over the past few months.

“A position as an Assistant United States Attorney is a coveted one. We receive dozens of applications for every one opening, and many of the applicants are highly qualified. Ultimately, we hire the best person for the position, and we have done so again. I am very proud of our team in this district, and I am confident that our new Assistant United States Attorneys will continue the great work our district is recognized for,” said Powell, a 1985 WVU Law graduate.

Christopher L. Bauer is working in the criminal division in the District’s Clarksburg, West Virginia, office. He received his bachelor's degree in legal studies and political science from William Paterson University in New Jersey. In 2016, he received his J.D./M.B.A from WVU, where he served on the West Virginia Law Review and the U.S. Supreme Court Clinic. From 2016 to 2017, Bauer worked as a litigation associate in the Bridgeport, West Virginia, office of Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. From 2017 to 2018, he served as a term law clerk for the Honorable Robert W. Trumble (WVU Law '84), U.S. Magistrate Judge. From 2018 to 2020, he served as a term law clerk for the Honorable Irene M. Keeley (WVU Law '80), Senior U.S. District Judge. 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University College of Law students are working with the state’s American Civil Liberties Union to staff its 2020 Election Protection Hotline.

The hotline is helping citizens overcome roadblocks they may encounter as they exercise their fundamental civil right to vote.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Amidst the global pandemic, the Class of 2023 at WVU Law has begun its legal education with a combination of online and in-person courses.

There are 111 students in the 1L class with a median entering GPA of 3.45 and a median LSAT score of 154, which is the same as last year. Approximately 38% of the class is from out-of-state.

Women make up 43% of the class. Eight percent of the 1Ls self-identify as a minority. The average age is 24, with an age range of 21 to 38. Almost 27% of the class is a first-generation college student.

Students in the Class of 2023 graduated from 41 colleges and universities. Some of the out-of-state schools represented are Baylor, Brown, Colorado State, George Mason, James Madison, Miami University of Ohio, Penn State, Temple, Texas A&M and the University of Virginia.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Charles Jason Lively is a free man today after spending 14 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Lively, a client of the West Virginia Innocence Project Law Clinic at the West Virginia University College of Law, was granted exoneration on September 23 by Judge William Sadler in the Mercer County Circuit Court. Staff and students in the law clinic worked on Lively’s case with attorneys from Baker Botts L.L.P.

In 2006, Lively was found guilty of first-degree murder and arson following the death in 2005 of Dr. Ebb K. “Doc” Whitley in Iaeger, West Virginia. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The newly-established Fitzsimmons Center for Litigation and Advocacy at the West Virginia University College of Law will provide additional opportunities for students to enhance essential lawyering skills—including understanding and analyzing the applicable substantive and procedural law while translating that knowledge into effective written and oral advocacy during the litigation process.

The Fitzsimmons Law Firm announced the Fitzsimmons Foundation pledged a gift of $1.25 million to establish the Center, which will have the goal to train law students to become effective legal advocates by enhancing and expanding the litigation and advocacy curriculum at the College.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Nicole McConlogue has joined the faculty at the West Virginia University College of Law as an associate professor and clinic director.

McConlogue will teach in WVU Law’s Litigation and Advocacy (General Practice) Law Clinic. Under supervision, students in the clinic provide free legal services in family law, social security and other public benefits, property issues, consumer debt relief and bankruptcy, among others. As a result, they often appear in West Virginia’s state and federal courts.

“We are thrilled to have Nicole at WVU Law as part of our faculty,” said John Taylor, interim dean of the College of Law. “She has terrific experience as a public interest attorney and a clinical teacher, along with administrative experience that will serve her well in the role of clinic director. We are confident she will carry on our strong clinical tradition and that her teaching and scholarship will benefit both our students and the people of West Virginia.”

McConlogue's scholarship interests include consumer protection, competition law, poverty law and technological surveillance of the poor. She serves as a board member for the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition and she is a longtime volunteer for Alpha Gamma Delta Women's Fraternity.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Professor James Van Nostrand, director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the West Virginia University College of Law, has been named to the advisory council of the new Ohio River Valley Institute.

Launched in August 2020, the Ohio River Valley Institute is focused on creating jobs by researching and promoting a clean energy economy in the Appalachian regions of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.

Van Nostrand has an extensive background in clean energy issues.

“I am pleased to have the opportunity to serve on the Advisory Council of the Ohio River Valley Institute,” he said. “The goals of the Institute — to promote development of a clean energy economy and a more sustainable path for the region — are very compatible with the mission of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development. I hope to be able to contribute to the impact of the Institute in shaping the future of the greater Ohio River Valley.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Summer 2020 was much like any other summer: a group of WVU Law students took on meaningful externships across the state, helping further access to justice for West Virginia’s most vulnerable residents. 

Summer 2020 was also unlike any summer before: because of the pandemic, the externs were challenged with adapting to quarantine guidelines and varying work environments as they carried out their work.

The 10-week summer externship course at WVU Law allows students to develop their skills in legal research, writing, analysis, interviewing and communication as they work alongside practicing attorneys and judges.

This year, nine students completed externships at the following host sites:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Around the world, corporations sometimes put profit before people. Until now, victims’ stories have been omitted from scholarship about business and human rights.

A new book, “When Business Harms Human Rights” (Anthem Press, 2020), solves that problem. Co-edited by Jena Martin, a professor at the West Virginia University College of Law, it is a collection of stories from around the world, including the United States, Brazil and Cameroon.

Martin hopes the book sheds light on some of the atrocities that can happen when businesses pursue profit without regard to their impact on communities or workers. It also provides some guidance to businesses that would like to be good corporate citizens and be profitable at the same time.

"Too often in the academic world we tend to look at phenomena and policy through divorced, seemingly objective lenses,” Martin said. “But we need to remember the why. For me, the why at the heart of what I do has been and will always be humanity.”