News

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — A WVU Law clinic received $843,500 to support affordable housing and community revitalization efforts in the state.

The Land Use and Sustainable Development (LUSD) Law Clinic was awarded the grant by the West Virginia State Bar’s Interest On Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Legal Assistance Grants Committee. 

The IOLTA funds come from a $16.6 billion settlement in 2014 between Bank of America and the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve claims of toxic mortgage practices. A portion of the settlement provides funds for civil legal services.

The LUSD Law Clinic will use the grant to help non-profit organizations and local governments provide affordable housing, fight poverty, and rebuild communities, according to Katherine Garvey, director of the clinic. 

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA —An ineffective “top-down patchwork” of regulations will not save the United States economy from the next big and inevitable financial crisis.

That’s the premise of a new book by West Virginia University professors Karen Kunz and Jena Martin.

Kunz is a public administration professor who specializes in financial market regulation and fiscal policy. Martin is a law professor with expertise in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where she has worked, and business and securities regulation.

In “ When the Levees Break: Re-Visioning Regulation of the Securities Markets” (Lexington Books, 2017), Kunz and Martin call for building an entirely new, mostly automated, system to govern the stock market and prevent future crashes.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The National Jurist has given special recognition to the WVU College of Law for its work in public service. 

In its winter issue, the magazine awarded WVU Law second place on a national honor roll of law schools with the greatest community impact. The honor roll is based on data of the free legal services provided by law school clinics in 2015-16.

Last year, WVU Law’s nine clinics provided 40,200 hours of pro bono legal services for more than 500 clients throughout the state.

Legal work in the clinics is conducted by law students and supervised by law professors. The students gain valuable lawyering experience while providing a service to those in need.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — WVU Law is hosting its next Experience WVU Law Day admissions open house on Saturday, January 28.

The program is designed for anyone interested in pursuing a legal education. 

Informative sessions focus on the law school application process, academic offerings and career opportunities. Participants can also sit in on a class, learn more about financial aid and tour WVU Law's newly renovated and expanded facilities. Lunch is provided.

For more information and to register, visit Experience WVU Law Day.

Three clients of the  Clinical Law Program at the WVU College of Law are waiting to hear if they will be granted clemency by President Barack Obama before he leaves office on January 20.

The president has granted clemency to more than 1,000 non-violent, low-level drug offenders, including three clients of the Clinical Law Program who were released earlier this year.

However, three remaining clients of the law clinic are still waiting review by the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice. The cases are being handled by student lawyers with faculty supervision.

Inmates Bryant Cook, Andre Scales, and Nathaniel Law meet the federal clemency criteria, according to  Valena Beety, associate professor of law.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Some families who lost their homes in the flooding that devastated southern West Virginia last summer are facing another housing disaster: rent-to-own scams.

In an effort to rebuild their lives, many flood victims are being enticed to rent houses that have a purchase option at the end of the lease, according to Priya Baskaran , director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic (EILC) at the West Virginia University College of Law.

“Rent-to-own situations have been cheating families into believing they are buying their home,” she said.

According to Baskaran, rent-to-own agreements are marketed to families who do not qualify for traditional home loans because of income requirements, poor credit or because they can’t afford the down payment.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — In the days leading up to and following the 2016 Presidential Election, regional and national media outlets have sought insight and analysis from several WVU College of Law professors:

Valarie Blake , associate professor of law

James Van Nostrand , Professor of Law

Anne Marie Lofaso , Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law

Scholarship by 3L Jennifer L. Bauer has been published by an international human rights organization.

The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) published Bauer’s “ Data Brokers and Human Rights – Big Data, Big Business” in November as part of its Occasional Paper Series.

In the article, Bauer explores the impact personal data collection and the responsibilities of firms that collect, store, process and share that data.

Bauer, who is earning a JD with an international law concentration, became interested in data privacy issues after working on an article for the West Virginia Law Review . 

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA—The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic (EILC) at the West Virginia University College of Law is going to provide legal support and educational services in Charleston, West Virginia. 

The EILC recently signed an agreement with Legal Aid of West Virginia to collaborate on the West Side Economic Development Project (WSEDP) in the state capital.

WSEDP is designed to increase the capabilities of local businesses, community organizations, nonprofit organizations, and entrepreneurs.  Law students in the EILC will produce legal education materials to assist WSEDP’s economic development efforts.

“Small businesses and community organizations are an important part of the economic backbone of the state,” said Priya Baskaran , director of the EILC. “Our plan for this pilot project is to create a healthy system of legal services to support entrepreneurs and organizations, helping communities build wealth from within.”

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — A new edition of a labor law casebook co-authored by Anne Marie Lofaso, the Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law at West Virginia University, has been published.

The 2016 second edition of “Modern Labor Law in the Private and Public Sectors” (Carolina Academic Press) reflects recent changes in labor laws in several states and new debates over policy.

The book focuses on two modern trends in labor law: the shift of union density from the private-sector to the public-sector and the growth of organizing outside of the National Labor Relations Act process.

The casebook’s other authors are Seth Harris of Cornell University, Joseph E. Slater of the University of Toledo, and Charlotte Garden of the University of Seattle.