News

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Marjorie McDiarmid, Steptoe & Johnson Professor of Law & Technology, is the recipient of the state’s 2016 Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award.

The West Virginia State Bar and Legal Aid of West Virginia present the award annually to an attorney or law firm whose efforts go above and beyond the call of duty.

McDiarmid was recognized for her many years of pro bono work and support for legal service organizations in West Virginia. She received the award recently at the annual meeting of the West Virginia State Bar in Charleston.

“Not only is Professor McDiarmid a respected professor at the West Virginia University College of Law, she is also generous in donating her time to help Legal Aid of West Virginia as an organization, and to serving our clients as a pro bono attorney,” said Gretchen Lewis of Legal Aid of West Virginia.

WVU Law professor Joshua Weishart is among six WVU faculty members selected for the 2017 Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching, which honors exceptional professors who go above and beyond to inspire their students.

Weishart uses a variety of techniques to engage his students in what he calls “the common enterprise of learning,” challenging them to build for themselves the connections between abstract legal rules and real world application.

A proud WVU alum and its 14th Truman scholar, Weishart holds dual appointment in the  Rockefeller School of Policy and Politics and the WVU College of Law, where the Class of 2016 elected him Professor of the Year and invited him to deliver their Commencement address.

Established in 1985 by the  WVU Foundation, the Outstanding Teaching award honors faculty who are particularly effective, inspiring teachers or who have established patterns of exceptional innovation in teaching methods, course and curriculum design and instructional tools.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – Rebecca Trump, a second-year student at WVU Law, has been chosen by her peers to serve as editor-in-chief of Volume 120 of the West Virginia Law Review.

The West Virginia Law Review a professional legal journal that publishes articles of interest to legal scholars, students, legislators and lawyers. Founded in 1894, it is the fourth oldest student-governed law review in the country. 

As editor-in-chief, Trump will lead a team to review articles and publish three issues of the law review during the 2017-18 academic year. She will also play a lead role in organizing a symposium and overseeing the law review’s website and online edition.

 “The West Virginia Law Review is a part of the law school that goes back more than a hundred years, and I’m honored that my classmates trust me to steer the ship for this volume,” said Trump, who is currently an associate editor for Volume 119.  “The law review is special because it’s student-run. Our professors are advisors, but when it comes down to it, the decision is ours as to the direction we want to take content.”

Megan Carpenter, a 1999 graduate of WVU Law, will take over leadership of the University of New Hampshire School of Law effective July 1, 2017.

A nationally known expert in intellectual property with a focus in entrepreneurship and the arts, Carpenter is founder and co-director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas A&M University School of Law.

She will be the first woman to lead the UNH law school since its founding in 1973.

Carpenter is chair of the academic committee of the International Trademark Association, the preeminent organization of trademark professionals. Prior to working in higher education, she practiced law at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart (now K&L Gates) where she represented technology, multimedia, and sports and entertainment clients.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA —  The College of Law has launched the Appalachian Justice Initiative (AJI), a group of law school faculty and staff working to address poverty in Appalachia through legal scholarship, policy advocacy, legal services and outreach.

“The College of Law faculty created the AJI to empower West Virginias in need of legal resources and assistance and to promote research and scholarship at the intersection of law and rural livelihood,” said Jennifer Oliva, director of the WVU Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic. “As a land-grant institution and the only law school in the state, we take seriously our charge to serve our fellow West Virginians and Appalachian neighbors.”

AJI’s mission is to develop programming and outreach projects that provide West Virginians and other Appalachian residents with enhanced legal services and education. Services will include workshops, meetings and legal teach-ins in communities throughout the state.

Members of AJI will also promote awareness and foster discussion on legal and policy issues in Appalachia through panel discussions, symposiums, and op-eds. Topics of conversation will include issues surrounding criminal justice, economic development and employment, education, environment, health, infrastructure and transportation.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – United Nations lawyer Jon MacDonald will deliver the Archibald McDougall Lecture in International Law on April 5 at 12 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at WVU Law.

A prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), MacDonald will discuss sexual violence in international conflicts.

Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

“When these crimes were first prosecuted in tribunals after World War Two, people viewed sexual violence as an inevitable and foreseeable side consequence of armed conflict,” MacDonald said. “Now, the International Criminal Court has a much better, more true position that embodies the thought that rape is a weapon of war. Sexual violence, along with a whole spectrum of crimes like murder and destruction, is used after land is won to drive the population out and make sure they don’t come back.”

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The West Virginia Law Review is hosting a symposium on March 31 to explore the impact of evolving technology on criminal investigations and law.  

Featuring national legal scholars and law enforcement experts, the symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at the West Virginia University College of Law. Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.

Topics to be discussed include cell phone surveillance, the internet of things, encrypted email and artificial Intelligence.

“With technology advancing in leaps and bounds, it is imperative that the law recognizes and covers the issues that are sure to arise,” said Ben Wilson, current editor-in-chief of the West Virginia Law Review.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — WVU Law is again ranked a top 100 law school by U.S. News & World Report. 

In its “2018 Best Graduate Schools” guide, the magazine ranks WVU Law #96 out of 196 accredited law schools.  

“The U.S. News top 100 is a highly competitive group of law schools,” said Gregory Bowman, dean of the College of Law. “The fact that we consistently maintain our position among the best law schools in the country is a testimony to the innovative programs, high-quality legal education and career-building opportunities we offer our students. Our efforts would not be successful without a dedicated faculty and staff and the support of alumni, friends, the legal community, and WVU leadership.” 

To compile its 2018 law school rankings, U.S. News used 2015 and 2016 statistics in categories such as peer assessment, LSAT scores, employment rate, and bar passage rate. 

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — WVU Law hosts its annual Public Interest Advocates (PIA) Auction and Dinner on March 23. The public is invited to attend.

The lumberjack-themed evening begins at 6 p.m. with a buffet dinner in the College of Law lobby. Tickets for the dinner can be purchased for $10 at the door.

The auction will start at 7 p.m. in the College’s Event Hall. Live auction items and silent auction items will be up for bid, and there will also be raffle items and a door prize. Admissions to the auction is free.

Some of the auction items include Pittsburgh Steelers and Pirates tickets, golf packages, signed WVU basketball memorabilia, tickets to concerts and theater performances, a week’s stay at a Myrtle Beach condo and weekend getaways.

Update 3/18/17: Congratulations to winners University of North Carolina School of Law and finalists George Washington University School of Law.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Law students from across the country will be in Morgantown March 16-18 for the seventh annual National Energy and Sustainability Moot Court Competition hosted by WVU Law.

Students in the competition will argue a legal problem involving a state’s effort to subsidize electricity generators using particular fuel sources, such as coal, in order to produce local economic benefits. The problem also addresses whether such measures interfere with interstate commerce or federal regulation of electricity prices.

The competition’s early rounds through semifinals will be held at WVU’s Erickson Alumni Center on March 16-18. The final round will be held on March 18 at 2:30 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at the WVU College of Law.