MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRIGINIA—The West Virginia University College of Law continues to be ranked a top 100 law school by U.S. News & World Report. In its “2016 Best Graduate Schools” guide, the magazine ranks WVU Law #94 out of 198 accredited law schools.
“The national environment for law schools is extremely competitive, so our place among the best schools is very good news,” said Gregory Bowman, interim dean of the College of Law. “Our ranking is the result of the hard work being done by our faculty and staff to ensure a high-quality legal education and it wouldn’t be possible without the support of alumni, friends, university leadership, and the law community.”
To compile its latest law school rankings, U.S. News used statistics from 2013 and 2014, including data on peer assessment, LSAT scores, employment rate, and bar passage rate.
While acknowledging the objective value of rankings like U.S. News, Bowman points out that they are just one tool future law students should use when researching a school.
UPDATE Congratulations to Texas Tech University School of Law, winner of the
2015 National Energy & Sustainability Moot Court Competition, and the University
of North Dakota School of Law, runner-up.
The legal issues in the competition are based on recent court and regulatory cases,
and illustrate environmental and sustainability challenges faced by today’s energy
companies.
This year, the students in the competition are tackling legal problems faced by a
fictitious energy company trying to build a natural gas gathering pipeline system.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia will convene at the West Virginia University College of Law on Wednesday, March 4, to hear five cases. The hearings will begin at 10 a.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom. Admission is free and open to the public. Seating begins at 9 a.m.
The first case to go before the court will be SER Ralph A. Lorenzetti, Jr., Prosecuting Attorney v. Honorable David H. Sanders, Judge; and Elizabeth Shanton. In this case, the prosecuting attorney seeks a writ of prohibition challenging a Circuit Court order dismissing 53 of 54 counts against Elizabeth Shanton. Shanton has been indicted on 53 counts of fraudulent or unauthorized use of a State Purchasing Card and one count of fraudulent schemes.
The second case is Gary W. Rich v. Joseph Simoni, et al. It deals with the following question certified by the District Court: Are the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct statements of public policy with the force of law equal to that given to statutes enacted by the West Virginia Legislature?
Update 2/23/15: The mediation competition at WVU Law was won by the College of William & Mary’s Parisa Tabissian and Eva Zelson, who advance to the national finals. The runner-up (2nd place) team was WVU Law’s Brandon Cole and Donald Kersey.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA—The West Virginia University College of Law is hosting the American Bar Association (ABA) regional mediation competition on Saturday, February 21, and Sunday, February 22.
The 16th annual competition will feature teams from eight law schools: WVU, American University, Georgetown University, Hoftra University, Regent University, the University of Richmond, the College of William and Mary, and Washington and Lee University.
Sponsored by the ABA’s Section of Dispute Resolution, the competition gives law students the opportunity to practice important mediation skills. Professional mediation is frequently an alternative to litigation in resolving legal disputes.
WVU is being represented by two mediation teams: Ashley Reynolds/Liz Stryker and Brandon Cole/ Donald Kersey. Andrew Waight and Wes Prince are alternate team members. Anthony Nortz is theWVU competition chair, and Thomas Patrick, professor of law, is the team coach.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) today named Billie S. McConkey as vice president, human resources.
A practicing labor and employment attorney, McConkey, 44, has provided legal counsel to three different news companies over her 20-year career. Since 2006, she has served as special employment counsel to McClatchy, providing guidance on labor and employment issues. She begins her new role March 9 as the company’s top human resources executive and a member of McClatchy’s senior management team.
“Billie has a long history of working with our markets in the area of employee relations and has a deep understanding of our culture,” said McClatchy President and CEO Pat Talamantes. “Leaders both at corporate and in our markets have tremendous confidence in Billie’s judgment, resourcefulness and work ethic. I couldn’t be happier to have her lead our dedicated team of human resources professionals.”
Born and raised in Charleston, W.Va., McConkey earned a bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University and her law degree from West Virginia University’s College of Law, where she graduated first in her class and was executive editor of the West Virginia Law Review. She moved to Arizona in 1995 to begin her legal career, working in private practice and specializing in employment issues.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA—A panel discussion at the West Virginia University College of Law will explore China’s climate change policy and how the world’s most populous country is connected to West Virginia by carbon emissions and global warming.
“Climate Change, China, and the West Virginia Connection” will be held in the College
of Law event hall on Thursday, February 12, from 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Admission
is free and the public is invited to attend.
The panelists will be Sarah Forbes, senior associate and energy and China specialist
with the World Resources Institute, and
Jerry Fletcher, environmental and natural resources economics professor and
director of WVU’s US-China Energy Center.
The discussion moderator will be Ben Gilmer, project manager with Downstream Strategies,
an environmental consulting firm based in Morgantown. Attorney Sam Petsonk, former
energy policy staff member for the late Senator Robert C. Byrd, will also make
remarks. Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions.
The West Virginia University College of Law is using a $120,000 grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to help revitalize cities and towns in the state.
Awarded to the Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic, the grant is supporting a program called West Virginia Legal Education to Address Abandoned/Neglected Properties, or WV LEAP. Through the program, clinic attorneys and students will help communities deal with decaying, abandoned, or uninhabitable buildings.
According to Katherine Garvey, director of the LUSD Law Clinic, neglected properties can be difficult for municipalities to address because of a lack of clarity on applicable laws, problems locating property owners and legal complexities related to property titles.
With WV LEAP, Garvey hopes to provide state municipalities with the tools and strategies available to them through technical legal assistance.
During the spring and summer of 2015, the LUSD Law Clinic will compile data and conduct legal research that will be made available to municipal attorneys as a resource on specific steps communities can utilize to combat problems of abandoned or decaying properties.
Emphasis will also be placed on educational outreach initiatives. The WV LEAP team will conduct a Continuing Legal Education session for West Virginia attorneys on May 14 in Charleston.
Patrick McGinley, the Charles Haden II Professor of Law, recently participated in the annual “Legislative Lookahead” panel hosted by the West Virginia Press Association.
Each year, the event serves as a forum for panelists to inform journalists on key issues and events within the state that could affect the upcoming legislative session.
McGinley, along with fellow panelists Tim Armistead, the incoming Speaker of the House of Delegates, and Don Smith, the Executive Director of the West Virginia Press Association, participated in a discussion on freedom of information act and other issues that may come before the legislature during the 2015 session. Rob Byers, Executive Editor of the Charleston Gazette, was the panel moderator.
Other topics discussed at the event held in Charleston included municipal issues, gun rights, water quality, and Republican control of the state legislature.
The panel was organized by Dorothy Abernathy, Associated Press Mid-Atlantic Bureau Chief for Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, West Virginia. and Delaware, with assistance from Marshall University, Charleston Newspapers and the West Virginia Press Association.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA—Paulette Brown, the president-elect of the American Bar
Association, is speaking at the
West Virginia University College of Law on Thursday, January 29, at 7:15 p.m.
in the college’s Event Hall.
Admission is free and the public is invited to attend.
Brown will discuss the school-to-prison pipeline and its impact on the legal profession’s
diversity and cultural competence. A reception in the College of Law Lobby will
follow her speech.
“We are honored that Ms. Brown is speaking in West Virginia on such an important
topic,” said
Gregory W. Bowman, interim dean and professor of law. “Her remarks are certain
to engage, inspire, and challenge the audience.”
