News

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The  West Virginia University College of Law awarded the Juris Doctor to the Class of 2022 on May 13.

For the first time since the pandemic, the commencement ceremony was held in the Lyell B. Clay Theatre at the  Canady Creative Arts Center. 

Dean Amelia Smith Rinehart presided over her first WVU Law commencement. 

“During the past three years, my colleagues, your professors, have equipped you with the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the legal profession,” she told the Class of 2022. “As you leave here and embrace your future, please do so with the aspirations this law school was founded upon in 1878 — that the graduates of our West Virginia law school would do something and be something that impacts our communities and our world.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University College of Law is among the best schools in the country for practical training, environmental law and intellectual property law, according to preLaw Magazine.

The national publication ranks WVU Law No. 26 in the country for practical training and gives the college a grade of A for environmental law and a B+ for intellectual property law.

For practical training, preLaw considered WVU Law’s opportunities in clinics, externships, simulation courses, pro bono work and moot court competitions.

For environmental law and intellectual property law, the magazine looked at the range of courses, depth of faculty expertise and programs, such as the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development, the National Energy and Sustainable Moot Court Competition and the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Devin Redding, a rising third-year student at the West Virginia University College of Law, has been elected by her peers to serve as the next editor-in-chief of the West Virginia Law Review. 

The WVLR is a professional legal journal that publishes practical and theoretical articles for legal scholars, students, legislators and lawyers. Founded in 1894, it is the fourth oldest student-governed law review in the country.  

Redding will lead the team that will publish three issues of Volume 125 of the WVLR in 2022-23. She will also oversee the law review’s annual symposium, website and online edition. 

Redding’s main goals as editor-in-chief are to expand the law review’s reach and impact while continuing to publish outstanding and innovative legal scholarship.  

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Two West Virginia University College of Law students argued before the state’s highest court on April 12. One of them will now have their name engraved on a cherished trophy.

Second-year students Mattie Shuler and Cameron LeFevre were finalists in WVU Law’s annual George C. Baker Moot Court Competition. They argued before the Justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in Charleston.

In the end, it was Shuler who was awarded the historic Baker Cup by the Justices.

"The Baker Cup finals gave Mattie and Cameron an amazing opportunity to argue in a historic courtroom before the Justices,” said Amy Cyphert, moot court advisor and lecturer in law. “We were transfixed watching their excellent arguments and I know the Justices were very impressed."

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Across the country, the pandemic intensified a growing trend of increased rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and serious thoughts of suicide.

In response, the West Virginia University College of Law has hired its first in-house behavioral health counselor, Kathy Servian.

“An embedded counselor is a long-felt need in our student support system,” said Amelia Smith Rinehart, William J. Maier, Jr. Dean of the College of Law. “Law students deal with stress in a competitive and challenging environment and that stress continues even as they graduate and head to future legal careers. Kathy’s exceptional counseling experience makes her the perfect addition to our Student Services and Engagement group. Ultimately, our efforts to destigmatize and address mental health concerns will impact not just students in their daily lives as healthy professionals but the legal community throughout our state and region.”

A Licensed Professional Counselor, Servian has more than 23 years of experience in the mental health field. She has provided individual and group therapy to clients experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and loss, relationship problems, substance use and gambling addiction. 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A specialist in international human rights law and business policy is delivering the annual Archibald McDougall Lecture at the West Virginia University College of Law.

Michael K. Addo will speak at noon on April 7 in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom. He will address the United Nation’s guiding principles on business and human rights and its impact on international law making.

Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. 

Addo is a former member of the U.N. Working Group that promoted and implemented the organization’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. In that role, he prepared policy papers and thematic reports for the U.N. Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, as well as policy advice for governments, companies and advocacy groups. He currently directs the London Law study abroad program at Notre Dame Law School. 

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.