WVU Law Magazine - spring 2017

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101 Law School Drive P.O. Box 6130 Morgantown, WV 26506

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WHEN THE FLOOD CAME THE UNIQUE ROLE OF THE LAND USE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW CLINIC BEFORE AND AFTER THE SUMMER 2016 DISASTER.

ALSO INSIDE: In Rainelle, West Virginia, after the flood: Katherine Garvey, director of the Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic; Priya Baskaran, director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic; Allison Eckman, AmeriCorps VISTA Member with the land use clinic; and Dan Eades, Economic Development Specialist, WVU Extension Service.

LIBRARY TRANSFORMATION

Q&A ON THE LL.M. PROGRAMS

The astonishing improvements to the George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library.

A look at WVU Law’s online and traditional LL.M. programs.

J.R. CLIFFORD The civil rights pioneer’s legacy endures with a law scholarship.

$310 PER TEAM OF FOUR includes fees, cart, refreshments, and awards luncheon For more information contact

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SBA PRESIDENT, JACKSON BUTLER: jjbutler@mix.wvu.edu

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LAKEVIEW GOLF RESORT AND SPA Saturday, April 1, 2017

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CONTENTS FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

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Library Transformation

The George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library has received a major upgrade.

When The Flood Came

A clinical law case study in public service following a natural disaster.

Viewfinder College Highlights Student Briefs Faculty Briefs Faculty Bookshelf Flashback

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Ask An Expert Thinking It Through Back on Campus Profiles Development The Last Word

Snapshot Commencement 2016

Photo by Brian Persinger

Cover photo by Rob Atha

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Luis Silva (left), Andrew Patchan (middle) and Ann Dao (right) outside the WVU Creative Arts Center following Commencement in May. Since graduation, the three friends have embarked on the next chapter of their lives. Silva is pursuing an LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida in Gainesville; Patchan is working at Najvar Law Firm in Houston, Texas; and Dao is with Cox Law Firm, PLLC in Dallas, Texas. The College awarded 103 J.D. degrees and five LL.M. degrees at its 2016 Commencement.

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SPRING 2017 E. Gordon Gee President, West Virginia University Joyce E. McConnell Provost Gregory W. Bowman Dean Gregory G. Elkins Associate Dean Atiba R. Ellis Professor of Law Joshua P. Fershee Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development Kendra H. Fershee Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Vonda Kirby ’09 Visiting Committee Jena Martin Associate Dean for Innovation and Global Development James A. McLaughlin Robert L. Shuman Professor of Law James H. Jolly Director of Marketing and Communications Chelsi Baker Communications Specialist Michael Esposito Executive Creative Director Angela Caudill Director, UR-Design Graham Curry Art Director, UR-Design Sheree Wentz Designer, UR-Design Brian Persinger M.G. Ellis Jennifer Shephard Photographers Kathy Deweese Director, University Content

SPRING 2017

EDITORIAL OFFICE WVU College of Law 101 Law School Drive P.O. Box 6130 Morgantown, WV 26506 Phone: 304-293-5301 Fax: 304-293-6891 wvulaw@mail.wvu.edu

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CHANGE OF ADDRESS WVU Foundation P.O. Box 1650 Morgantown, WV 26507-1650 Fax: 304-284-4001 Email: info@wvuf.org www.mountaineerconnection.com

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A Letter from the Dean Greetings from Morgantown!

I am pleased to present you with this latest edition of WVU Law’s magazine! The news and stories in the pages that follow tell of the many exciting things happening on our campus. As the state’s only law school, we are proud to be deeply engaged in the key issues facing West Virginia and the nation.

Our cover story tells of the work done by our Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic in the state’s flood-devastated communities. In the best of times, our nine law clinics provide legal services to residents-in-need throughout West Virginia. The aftermath of the June 2016 floods was, however, the worst of times for many West Virginians—and the faculty, staff and students in the Land Use Clinic stepped up to provide invaluable legal support to those in need.

We are a service institution, and we take our service obligations very seriously.

Two of our other clinics also expanded their reach this year and are providing additional services across the state. Our Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic is collaborating with a revitalization project in the state capital, and the Veterans Clinic is widening its reach to help former service members throughout the Mountain State. This year marks the 40th anniversary of our Clinical Law program, and we are celebrating the deep and lasting impact of our nine law clinics. For four decades, our clinics have nobly served West Virginians and provided invaluable learning opportunities for our students.

In an era where many are rightly concerned about the cost of higher education, WVU Law is garnering national praise for providing an excellent legal education

at an affordable price. This fall, we also announced a progressive approach to keeping law school affordable by offering in-state tuition to graduates of any West Virginia institution of higher learning, regardless of their home state. This could save some of our students nearly $50,000 over the course of their law school careers.

Another initiative that we are honored to be part of is the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity. We believe in creating more opportunities for minority law students and lawyers in West Virginia and across the nation. A diverse bar is a vibrant bar—and a vibrant bar is good for West Virginia.

One of the many joys of working in higher education is the opportunity to nurture and witness student success. Another joy is the opportunity to experience the excellent and innovative scholarship produced by our faculty. The Student Briefs and Faculty Briefs sections of this magazine provide snapshots of the accomplishments that are at the heart of WVU Law. The work of our alumni is also a source of pride, as well as the work of other distinguished members of the law school community.

The College now has a newly completed home for our students, faculty, and programs. Our four-year building expansion and renovation project is finally complete—and the results are stunning! Our enlarged and renovated facility is absolutely beautiful, and it provides a national caliber home for our national caliber law school. The impact of this $26 million project can be seen through the law school building, but it is no more evident than in our transformed George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library.

None of what we do would be possible, of course, without the support of our generous donors. In addition to our annual Dean’s Partners Gala, we say “thank you” with the publishing of our annual donor list.

There’s a lot more to read in the pages that follow, so enjoy the magazine! Finally, if you have the opportunity, come see us on Law School Hill.

Gregory W. Bowman Dean, WVU College of Law

WVU is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution – Minority/Female/Disability/Veteran.The WVU Board of Governors is the governing body of WVU. The Higher Education Policy Commission in West Virginia is responsible for developing, establishing, and overseeing the implementation of a public policy agenda for the state’s four-year colleges and universities. WVU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Many WVU programs hold specialized accreditation. (119444)

Viewfinder

Rainelle, West Virginia

Photo by Rob Atha

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The extent of flooding in Rainelle last summer reflects the scope of devastation that continues to disrupt lives in many communities throughout southern West Virginia.

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Photo by Brian Persinger

College Highlights

SPRING 2017

WVU Law Recognized for Value and Excellence

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The College of Law earned high marks for value and two of its academic programs.

The National Jurist named WVU Law a top 20 Best Value Law School for its high employment rate and low student debt.

WVU Law awards more than $2.9 million a year in scholarships and grants to help keep student indebtedness to about $25,000 lower than the national average. The employment rate for the WVU Law Class of 2015 is 80 percent for full-time, long-term Bar Passage Required and JD Advantage jobs. That is 10 points higher than the national average.

“The Best Value ranking reinforces the work by faculty and staff to help our students prepare for their futures and start meaningful legal careers,” said Dean Gregory W. Bowman.

PreLaw Magazine named WVU Law a top school for Public Interest Law and Criminal Law. The college received a grade of A for Public Interest Law and a B+ for Criminal Law. Just five law schools were ranked higher than WVU for Public Interest Law, and only 30 law schools were ahead of WVU in Criminal Law. There are 204 law schools approved by the American Bar Association.

The magazine graded law schools based on the scope of each program, including concentrations, externships, clinics, and student organizations.

“A lot of people work hard to make these programs a success, including our students,” said Bowman. “They are the true beneficiaries of this type of recognition. It is our privilege to be a leader in legal education.”

Clinic to Help Economic Development in Charleston Community leaders and EILC representatives participated in a focus group in November that identified common legal obstacles faced by West Side businesses and organizations. EILC students will now create resources to address issues such as licensing, forming a limited liability company, qualifying for non-profit status, protecting intellectual property, and opening specific types of businesses.

To support its partnership with EILC, Legal Aid of West Virginia has hired Harden Scragg to be the inaugural Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic Fellow. A West Side-native, Harden will serve as the on-site project coordinator, living and working in the neighborhood to provide direct legal services to entrepreneurs and community organizers. He is a 2005 graduate of the College of Law.

Photo by Tatsu Johnson

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic (EILC) recently signed an agreement with Legal Aid of West Virginia to collaborate on the West Side Economic Development Project (WSEDP) in Charleston, West Virginia.

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.”

WVU Law Joins National Diversity Initiative Council on Legal Diversity in its work to make a positive impact on the profession,” said Dean Gregory Bowman.

Marilyn McClure-Demers, Class of 1991, was instrumental in forming the partnership between the College of Law and the LCDL. She is associate general counsel for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company in Columbus, Ohio.

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The College of Law has joined the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), a national organization dedicated to creating opportunities for minority law students.

LCLD is a group of more than 250 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners, founded in 2009.

WVU Law’s partnership with LCLD provides a mentoring program for its 1L minority students. Students will also have access to exclusive internships at law firms and in corporate legal departments.

“WVU Law is dedicated to creating opportunities for minority students, and we proudly support the Leadership

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College Highlights

Cost-savings Tuition Program Started leaving West Virginia,” he said. “They already know and appreciate our state, and we think this program is a great way to encourage them to stay in West Virginia while also saving money on law school tuition.”

Based on current (2016-17) out-of-state tuition at the College of Law, each student who qualifies for the Loyalty Tuition program could save more than $16,000 a year. About 23 percent of this fall’s entering class are from out of state.

The College of Law offers a wide range of financial support, and more than 70 percent of its students receive scholarships.

Tuition for 2017-18 will be set by the WVU Board of Governors.

SPRING 2017

Photo by Brian Persinger

Beginning fall 2017, residents of other states who graduate from a public or private higher education institution in West Virginia will be eligible for in-state tuition at the College of Law. To qualify for the new Loyalty Tuition program, students must earn a bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, or professional degree from an accredited college or university in the state.

The program is about creating opportunities for law students who already have strong ties to West Virginia, according to Dean Gregory Bowman.

“We are offering non-resident students a more affordable way to earn a J.D. from a top-rated, best-value law school without

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Brugnoli to Lead WVCLE Amber Brugnoli has been appointed assistant dean for West Virginia Continuing Legal Education (WVCLE).

She will start in March following the retirement of Jessica Justice Stolarik, who has led the program for 36 years. Brugnoli worked closely with Stolarik in the fall as part of the leadership transition.

“Amber is uniquely qualified to direct WVCLE,” said Dean Gregory W. Bowman. “I am confident that she will run and grow a successful program that continues to meet the professional needs of attorneys who practice in our state.”

Since 2013, Brugnoli has been the assistant dean for career services at the college. She has also been involved with the Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic and the International Moot Court Team.

Brugnoli is a major in the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate Corps Reserves and served in active duty from 2004-2008, including a tour in Iraq. She holds a law, a master’s, and undergraduate degrees from WVU and a master’s degree from Troy University.

WVCLE offers a wide range of classes to help the state’s lawyers practice professionally, competently, and ethically throughout their careers. The program provides live courses, multimedia seminars, and online credit for more than 2,200 lawyers from West Virginia and 20 other states.

WVCLE has been based at the WVU College of Law and directed by Stolarik since it was founded in 1980.

“The legal community in West Virginia owes Jessie a big debt of gratitude,” said Bowman. “She has skillfully run WVCLE for the benefit of thousands of attorneys and the clients they serve. Her decades of positive impact on legal education and the profession in West Virginia cannot be overstated.”

Veterans Clinic is Expanding

Photo by Chelsi Baker

In August, the clinic teamed up with the VCPBP and the West Virginia State Department of Veterans Assistance for its inaugural Veterans Clinic Boot Camp at the College of Law. The daylong program provided training for attorneys interested in learning more about veteran’s law.

The VCPBP recently gave the clinic a $10,000 gift to support statewide outreach efforts.

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Approximately 170,000 veterans live in West Virginia, many with acute and unique legal needs related to their military service or return to civilian life.

In an effort to provide more outreach and legal services to veterans across the state, WVU Law has expanded its Veterans Assistance Project from a practice area within the General Clinic to a stand-alone clinic.

The new Veterans Advocacy Clinic (VAC) gives law students the opportunity to represent West Virginia veterans in litigation before administrative agencies and courts on benefits, discharge upgrades, employment claims, and other civil and criminal matters.

Students also represent local and national organizations in nonlitigation matters relating to the legal needs of veterans like regulatory and legislative reform efforts, media advocacy, and strategic planning.

The VAC is directed by Jennifer Oliva, associate professor of law and U.S. Army veteran. Oliva is a graduate of the United States Military Academy. She came to WVU Law from the Dickinson School of Law at Pennsylvania State University.

Under Oliva’s leadership, the clinic has partnered with law firms and entities, such as the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program (VCPBP), United States District Court, United States Attorney’s Office, and the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the Northern District of West Virginia, to develop new projects, training, and grant opportunities aimed at expanding legal services to West Virginia veterans.

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Student Briefs

Comparative Law in Switzerland and Mexico

More than 40 WVU Law students studied in Guanajuato, Mexico, and Geneva, Switzerland, last summer. At the University of Guanajuato, students focused on migration issues through a Mexican perspective, including economic and social policy issues. In Geneva (above), they studied international trade law with behind-the-scene visits to the United Nations and the World Trade Commission.

“Geneva was really interesting because it exposed me to different areas of the law that I normally would not think about, such as international human rights and trade markets,” said 3L Liz Stryker of Charleston, West Virginia. “We were also able to take side trips. I went to Milan one weekend and to Iceland.”

Bauer Published Scholarship by Jennifer L. Bauer ’17, was published in November by The Institute for Human Rights and Business.

In “Data Brokers and Human Rights – Big Data, Big

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

2016 Baker Cup Results Colton Parsons ’17 won the 2016 Baker Cup and the Best Brief award. Ty Clifford ’17 was the runner-up. Kayla Stickley ’17 was

named Best Oralist. The final round was judged by the justices of the Supreme Court of West Virginia.

SPRING 2017

Johnson and Butler Win at LawMeet

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The WVU Law team of AJ Johnson ’17 and Jackson Butler ’17 won the 2016 Chicago Regional Transactional

LawMeet, which earned them one of just 14 spots at the national competition.

Culture of Excellence Winners Zachary Gray ’18 and the Community Service Council (CSC) were the fall 2016 Culture of Excellence Award winners. Gray is active in PIA, the Community Service Council, and Phi Alpha Delta. The CSC, comprised of law students, has recently run programs benefiting Sundale Nursing Home, Christian Help, and the Rosenbaum House, among others.

National Moot Court Team Finishes in Top 8 WVU Law competed in the 67th Annual National Moot Court Competition regional round in November. Colton Parsons, Kayla Stickley, and Liz Stryker advanced to the top eight. They also had the fourth-highest brief score in the entire competition. The team, which also included Stephanie Brock, McKenzie Cooley, and Michelle Schaller, is sponsored

by Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. The competition is hosted by the New York City Bar Association’s National Moot Court Competition Committee and the American College of Trial Lawyers. This year’s problem focused on a commerce clause issue and a Fourth Amendment claim.

BLSA Team Finshes Fourth WVU Law’s BLSA team finished in fourth place out of 13 law schools at the Mid-Atlantic Black Law Students Association Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition held in Philadelphia earlier this year. Team members were Jackson Butler ’17, Eleanor Hurney ’17, Alex Jonese ’17, Wes Prince ’17, and Nikki Vernot ’17. The coaches were Justice Larry Starcher and James Clarke ’15.

2016 Lugar Cup Results The winners of the Lugar Trial Competition were Owen Reynolds ’16 and Ryan Umina ’16. Allie Santer ’16 and Zachary Walton ’16 were the runners-up. U.S. District Court Judge Gina Groh ’89 presided over the final round.

Butler is SBA President Jackson Butler ’17 is the 2016-17 president of the Student Bar Association. Butler earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Oklahoma State University. He is currently the Public Policy and Legal Fellow at Philanthropy West Virginia and an associate editor for the West Virginia Law Review. Earlier this year, he was a semifinalist at Albert Mugel National Tax Moot Court Competition.

Wilson Heads Law Review Ben Wilson ’17 is editor-inchief of the West Virginia Law Review, Volume 119 (201617). He previously served as an associate editor for Volume 118 and vice justice of the WVU chapter of Phi Alpha Delta. Wilson earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and was a ranger at Muskegon State Park before enrolling in law school.

Young Serves as ILSA Officer Shane Young ’18 is serving as chief communications officer for the International Law Students Association (ILSA). Based in Washington, D.C., ILSA provides students with opportunity to study, research, and network in the international legal arena.

Student Briefs

SPRING 2017

Photo by Chelsi Baker

Sprouse Fellowship Provides Opportunities for Service

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Last summer, students Katy Marcum and Brad Wright gained important work experience and provided valuable legal service as recipients of the James Sprouse Public Defender Fellowship.

The annual fellowship is named in memory of the late judge who sat on the U.S. Fourth Circuit and the West Virginia Supreme Court. It awards rising 3L students up to $5,500 to work for 10 weeks during the summer in either a West Virginia state or federal public defender’s office.

Marcum worked in the Federal Public Defender’s office in Clarksburg and Wright served in the Berkeley County Public Defender’s office.

Under senior litigator Richard Walk, Marcum conducted research for new clients and sat in on numerous hearings focusing on drug cases and prisoners’ rights. She said that working with inmates humanized the prison system and showed her that prisoners are real people who sometimes need help. She also drafted an appellate brief to the U.S. Fourth Circuit.

“This opportunity broadened my perspective on a wide range of issues, and it was by far the best experience I could have had last summer in terms of how much I grew as an attorney and as a writer,” Marcum said.

Marcum, a West Virginia State Bar Public Interest Scholar, is earning a J.D. with a Public Interest concentration. She is an associate editor on the West Virginia Law Review and president of the Board of Directors for the West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest.

She previously served as a Public Interest Advocates (PIA) Fellow in the Charleston office of Mountain State Justice.

Before attending law school, she earned an M.A. in Anglo-Irish Literature and Drama, First Class from University College Dublin in the Republic of Ireland as a George Mitchell Scholar. She also earned a B.A. in English Literature from West Virginia Wesleyan College.

In the Berkeley County Public Defender’s office, Wright represented clients in contested preliminary hearings and assisted in a felony jury trial. He also wrote suppression motions in a search and seizure case that resulted in the case being dismissed.

Wright also provided legal research and opinions that ultimately helped a client avoid a 15-year prison sentence.

“Each day of my fellowship offered a new experience and its own unique challenges. I had multiple cases to handle, hearings to attend, clients to visit, and prosecutors to discuss plea offers with,” said Wright.

“I am most proud of the work that staff attorney Brett Basham and I did on both of our jury trials. The first case resulted in a hung jury on six of the nine felony charges; the second trial resulted in a not guilty verdict.”

Wright previously held an externship for the Federal Public Defender in Clarksburg in the fall of 2015.

Wright is president of the Class of 2017. Prior to law school, he was a deputy sheriff in Berkeley County and a police officer in Star City, West Virginia. He earned his Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia University in 2013.

PROFESSOR OF LAW, ATIBA ELLIS

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights W.Va. State Advisory Committee

DEFENDING THE RIGHT TO VOTE. At West Virginia University, we measure success in lives changed. That’s how Law Professor Atiba Ellis looks at his career and his groundbreaking research on voting rights — cited by the Supreme Court of Iowa in a momentous decision. His work is helping disenfranchised citizens across the country gain a voice in our democracy. Because a better future starts with a bold leap.

MOUNTAINEERS GO FIRST.

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Faculty Briefs

Blake is Helping Define Uterus Transplantation Law Valarie Blake, associate professor of law, is in the vanguard of legal scholars who are analyzing uterus transplantation, a pioneering medical procedure.

There have been five successful births in Sweden from women who received uterus transplants. Baylor University Medical Center recently performed uterus transplants on four women, one of them successfully.

Clinical, ethical, legal, and safety issues must be addressed before uterus transplant becomes a mainstay reproductive technology, Blake says.

In September, she was the only American law professor to present at the Ethics of Uterus Transplantation Conference hosted by Lancaster University and King’s College in the United Kingdom. Her paper will be published in the international journal Bioethics in 2018.

At the London conference, Blake focused on ethical and legal issues surrounding healthcare financing of uterus transplants in the United States. She was the only conference speaker to raise race and class as significant issues for uterus transplant health insurance coverage.

Oxford Human Rights Anthology Features Faculty Work

SPRING 2017

Scholarship by WVU Law faculty is featured heavily in a 2016 anthology published by the Oxford Human Rights Hub (OxHRH) Blog.

The OxHRH Blog brings together academics, practitioners, and policy-makers from across the globe to advance the understanding and protection of human rights and equality. It is based at the University of Oxford Faculty of Law. Anne Marie Lofaso, the Arthur B. Hodges Professor of Law at WVU, is a research associate for the OxHRH Blog. Her work published in the anthology includes articles on the National Labor Relations Board’s dismissal of a petition for union representation by college football players and the human and labor rights record of Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court Justice who died in February 2016.

Following Scalia’s death, Lofaso asked several of her colleagues to write about the conservative justice for the OxHRH Blog. The results are wide-ranging articles that explore various aspects of Scalia’s legal legacy.

Professor Valena Beety addressed Scalia’s “rebuke of innocence” and Professor Valarie Blake wrote about his dissent in challenges to the Affordable Care Act. Professor Joshua Weishart wrote about Scalia’s relative silence on education rights, and Professor Jennifer Oliva

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confronted Scalia’s rejection of women’s health and reproductive rights.

John Taylor, the Jackson Kelly Professor of Law, wrote two articles in the anthology dealing with Scalia’s influence on Religion Clauses jurisprudence and rights-based protections in the law.

Professor Atiba Ellis addressed Scalia’s weakening of voting rights for minorities.

Patrick McGinley, the Charles Haden II Professor of Law, is also published in the OxHRH anthology. He wrote about the EPA’s Clean Power Plan and The Paris Agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change dealing with greenhouse gas emissions.

A PDF of “Global Perspectives on Human Rights: Oxford Human Rights Hub Blog (3rd edition)” is available at law.wvu.edu/magazine.

State Supreme Courts Cite Ellis and Fershee Two state Supreme Courts cited scholarship by College of Law professors in 2016.

In an opinion on felon disenfranchisement, the Supreme Court of Iowa cited an article by voting rights expert Professor Atiba Ellis.

The majority and the dissent referred to his 2015 article “Tiered Personhood and the Excluded Voter” (Chicago-Kent Law Review, Vol. 90, No. 2, 463).

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania cited scholarship by Professor Joshua Fershee in a hydraulic fracturing (fracking) decision. His article “Facts, Fiction, and Perception in Hydraulic Fracturing: Illuminating Act 13 and Robinson Township v.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” (116 W. Va. L. Rev. 819, 826) was cited by the dissent.

Faculty and Staff Milestones New Faculty Priya Baskaran associate professor of law and director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic, LL.M., Georgetown University Law Center

Jennifer Olivia associate professor of law and director of the Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic, J.D., Georgetown University Law Center

Promotions and Tenure James Van Nostrand professor of law, LL.M., Pace University School of Law

Sean Tu professor of law, J.D., University of Chicago

Appointments Chelsi Baker communications specialist

Jennie James assistant dean for development

Amanda Tustin administrative assistant

Amber Brugnoli assistant dean for continuing legal education

Tina Jernigan assistant dean for student life

Kristi Wright assistant registrar

Scott Fletcher associate director of development

Beth Pierpont assistant dean for admissions

Retired Janet Armistead assistant dean for student affairs

Joy Fryson administrative assistant

Toni Sebree administrative associate

Gerry Ashdown James H. “Buck” and June M. Harless Professor of Law

Jean Milam administrative secretary

Jessica Justice Stolarik assistant dean for continuing legal education

Dreama DeVincent administrative associate

Thomas Patrick teaching professor of law

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Bertha Romine program assistant

Cynthia Teeman acquisitions coordinator

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Faculty Briefs

McGinley Wins International Environmental Rights Award Patrick McGinley, the Charles H. Haden II Professor of Law at West Virginia University, is the winner of the 2016 Svitlana Kravchenko Environmental Rights Award.

The award is bestowed by Land Air Water, the nation’s oldest and largest student environmental law society.

It is based at the University of Oregon School of Law. The Kravchenko Award recognizes McGinley’s lifelong “work as a legal scholar, teacher, and public interest environmental litigator [who] has been committed to the rule of law, speaking truth to power, mentoring law students and lawyers, and empowering families and communities marginalized by discrimination based on race, wealth, and ethnicity.”

McGinley has been a leader in environmental law during a career that has spanned more than 40 years. Among his accomplishments, he litigated — and won — the first mountaintop removal case; he represented a citizen’s group that preserved the Cranberry backcountry in West Virginia’s highlands as federal wilderness; and he is a leading authority on the Freedom of Information Act. He also served on the West Virginia governor’s independent investigative team for the Sago Mine and Upper Big Branch coal mine disasters, where 41 miners lost their lives due to failures to employ and enforce federal mine safety laws.

Svitlana Kravchenko, the award’s namesake, was a Ukrainian and American law professor and scholar. In 2012, she was posthumously honored by the American Bar Association for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy. Throughout her career, she helped build the connection between human rights and environmental protection. In addition to her international work, Kravchenko was a reformer advocating democratic principles in Ukraine.

Beety Honored for Scholarship

SPRING 2017

Professor Valena Beety was presented with the 201516 Significant Scholarship Award by her colleagues in spring 2016.

The associate professor of law won the award for her article “Judicial Dismissal in the Interest of Justice,” published last year in the Missouri Law Review (Volume 80, Issue 3). In the article, Beety examined the capacity of judges to grant clemency, or dismiss cases, in the interest of justice.

According to Beety, most of the country’s 1.6 million inmates are serving sentences for nonviolent offenses. She argues that by making judges more accountable, they can dismiss some cases based on overzealous prosecutions, racebased patrolling, and the overuse of “three strikes” laws.

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Beety looked at factors such as community impact, prosecutorial misconduct, safety and welfare of the community, and a conviction’s effect on public confidence in the criminal justice system. She proposed reform of the criminal justice system and practical assistance for individual cases and lives.

“This article illustrates the high level of research and scholarship our professors produce on significant issues,” said Dean Gregory W. Bowman. “Valena raises important questions related to fairness, efficiency, and effectiveness in the criminal justice system, and she provides courts an option to begin addressing the need for reform.”

The College of Law’s Significant Scholarship Award is given annually to a faculty member whose written work addresses an important public issue while demonstrating an ability to conduct thorough research that is conveyed through clear and concise writing.

The award’s committee recognized Beety for her “novel theoretical paradigm through which to consider a significant problem” and for providing a practical solution.

Photo by Chelsi Baker

Weishart Named Professor of the Year responsibility. In summer 2016, he was appointed associate professor of law and policy, a joint position between the College of Law and the Rockefeller School of Politics and Public Policy.

Weishart’s research is centered on education law and policy, particularly on issues of school finance, integration, and special education. His scholarship on educational equality and adequacy and the right to education has been published in the Stanford Law Review and Alabama Law Review.

Before joining the law faculty, Weishart was an associate at Severson & Werson, P.C. in San Francisco specializing in financial service litigation for a variety of consumer-related matters. He was also a law clerk to the Honorable Robert B. King of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

A Truman Scholar, Weishart holds a B.A. from WVU, a master’s degree from the University of Cambridge (England), and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

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The WVU Law Class of 2016 selected Joshua Weishart as its Professor of the Year.

Speaking at last May’s Commencement, Class President Owen Reynolds called attention to Weishart’s “approachability and high but fair expectations.”

In turn, Weishart used his Commencement address to tell the Class of 2016 that they “have proven that you have what it takes not only to be attorneys at law, but, more importantly, persons with empathy, passion, and different conceptions” of what justice entails.

He praised members of the Class of 2016 for making the best use of their WVU Law experience, including “distinguishing yourselves as capable advocates before federal and state courts including the highest appellate courts, securing clemency for your clients from the President of the United States, and representing other clinic clients” that made a meaningful difference.

Weishart joined the WVU Law faculty in 2012 as a visiting professor, teaching torts and professional

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SPRING 2017

Faculty Bookshelf

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Books and select articles published by WVU College of Law faculty members in 2015-16: SHINE TU, associate professor of law HIS BOOK: “ Biotechnology, Bioethics,

and the Law” (co-authors M. Goodwin and J.J. Paris), Lexis Publishing, 2016

KIRSHA WYANDT TRYCHTA, teaching associate professor

ROBERT BASTRESS professor of law

HIS BOOK:

“ The West Virginia Constitution” (The Oxford Commentaries on the State Constitutions of the United States), 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2016

HER BOOKS:

“ Evidence: Common Law & Federal Rules of Evidence” (co-authors W.M. Oliver and D.B. Durrer), 7th ed., LexisNexis, 2015 “ Teaching Materials for Evidence: Common Law & Federal Rules of Evidence,” LexisNexis, 2016

JENA MARTIN ANNE MARIE LOFASO, professor of law HER BOOKS:

“ Modern Labor Law in the Public and Private Sectors: Cases and Materials” (co-authors S. Harris, J. Slater, and D. Gregory), revised edition, Carolina Academic Press, 2016

professor of law and associate dean for innovation and global development

HER BOOK:

“ The Business and Human Rights Landscape” (editor with Karen E. Bravo), Cambridge University Press, 2016

“ Teachers Manual to Modern Labor Law in the Public and Private Sectors” (co-authors S. Harris, J. Slater, and D. Gregory), revised edition, Carolina Academic Press, 2016

Valena Beety

Joshua Fershee

James Van Nostrand

“Judicial Dismissal and the Unexonerated,” Cornell L. Rev. Online, May 2015.“Pivoting Accountability in the Criminal Justice System” Mo. L. Rev., Summer 2015.

“How Local Is Local? A Response to Professor David B. Spence’s The Political Economy of Local Vetoes,” 93 Texas L. Rev. 61 (2015)

“Keeping the Lights on During Superstorm Sandy: Climate Change Adaptation and the Resiliency Benefits of Distributed Generation,” 23 N.Y.U. Envtl. L. J. 92 (2015)

James Friedberg

“Getting to Utility 2.0: Rebooting the Retail Electric Utility in the U.S.,” 6 San Diego J. Climate & Energy L. 149 (2015)

associate professor of law

Valarie Blake

associate professor of law “Conflicts of Interest and Effective Oversight of Assisted Reproduction using Donated Oocytes” (co-author), 43 J. Law, Medicine & Ethics (2015)

professor of law and associate dean

professor of law

“The Arab League Boycott of Israel: Warring Histories, International Trade, and Human Rights,” In J. Martin, K. Bravo (Eds.), “The Business and Human Rights Landscape: Moving Forward and Looking Back,” Cambridge University Press (2015)

professor of law

Kirsha Wyandt Trychta

teaching associate professor

professor of law

Jesse Richardson

“Reviving the Dream: Equality and the Democratic Promise in the Post Civil Rights Era,” Michigan St. L. Rev. 789 (2015)

“Using the Billable Hour to Help Shape Law Students’ Time Management Skills, The Learning Curve AALS Section on Academic Support” (Winter 2015)

“Agricultural Preferences in Eastern Water Allocation Statutes,” 55 Natural Resources J. 328 (2015)

Joshua Weishart

Nicholas Stump

“Reconstituting the Right to Education,” 67 Ala L. Rev. (2016)

Atiba Ellis

assistant director of the library

associate professor of law

“The Future of Academic Law Librarianship” (co-author), Lib. J. (2015)

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“Tiered Personhood and the Excluded Voter: The Jurisprudence of Disenfranchisement in Twenty-First Century America,” 90 Chicago Kent L. Rev. 463 (2015)

associate professor of law

Photo by Chelsi Baker

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LIBRARY TRANSFORMATION The George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library supports the teaching and research needs of the College of Law. The Library also proudly serves the West Virginia bench, practicing bar, and the general public.

One of the most impressive features of the College’s recent $26 million expansion and renovation is a completely transformed George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library.

Overall, the library has a more contemporary and open feel. Students and other patrons now access the library through a prominent entrance in the College’s lobby. To the right of the entrance is the glass-walled Colborn Rare Book Room.

Throughout the library, soft seating, study carrels, and private study rooms help create an inviting place for students to pursue their legal education. On the second floor, near the stacks, a seating area faces a wall of windows that overlooks WVU’s Evansdale campus and western Morgantown.

The George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library is the largest public law library in the state, providing access to more than 300,000 print volumes and the full complement of online legal resources.

SPRING 2017

GRAND ENTRANCE The library’s new entrance is now located in the College’s lobby.

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PHOTOS BY SHEREE WENTZ

NATURAL LIGHT A wall of windows fills the second floor with daylight, creating an inviting space to study, research, and meet.

ASSISTANCE Need something? Offices, the circulation desk, and other patron assistance is available on the first floor.

HIGHLIGHTING HISTORY Hundreds of years of legal scholarship and theory will be housed and displayed on the first floor.

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TAKE A SEAT A broad selection of magazines and newspapers are available for library visitors.

STUDY HERE Illuminated study carrels offer private study spaces throughout the library.

MEET HERE Study groups can meet around tables on the second floor.

LEARN HERE The Carlin Library Instruction Center is designed for larger groups.

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SPRING 2017

For hours, the rain poured until the creeks rose up and the floodwaters rushed down the hills, into the streets, over lawns and up porch steps, and through doors and windows. Homes, with their cherished family possessions accumulated over a lifetime, were engulfed in a matter of hours.

The whole world seemed to be soaked first with water and then with mud. After the water receded, walls in homes and businesses stained with high-water lines and filled with mold served as a reminder of the deluge. Floors, yards, gardens, and streets were covered with a thick layer of stinking mud and debris. Governor Tomblin declared a state of emergency in 44 counties.

President Obama signed a federal disaster declaration that deployed FEMA resources.

At WVU College of Law, one clinic in particular has been part of the recovery efforts. The Land Use and Sustainable Development (LUSD) Law Clinic was already working in several of the effected communities before the flood. After the flood, their efforts in these communities were vital.

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Janet Osborne, of Clay, watched the bottom level of her house wash away. Even after the waters receded, her house was deemed too unsafe for her ailing husband of 52 years, Douglas Osborne, who had been in a nursing home, to move back in. He died without ever being able to return. Still, she calls herself fortunate. She sees all the people still living in tents in her community and fears what will happen to them when cold weather sets in.

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Photo by Raymond Thompson Jr.

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SPRING 2017

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When the planning commission in Richwood, West Virginia, adopted its new comprehensive plan in early June 2016, the community’s future looked bright.

The LUSD Law Clinic had worked closely with Richwood’s municipal government to develop the plan. Clinic staff and attorneys assessed the city’s needs and outlined ways to improve infrastructure and facilitate economic development while conserving natural resources. The plan is, essentially, a blueprint for successful, sustainable growth, and development.

Richwood was once a vibrant hub for trade, commerce, and entertainment. The center of town rests in a valley next

plan identified flooding as a constant concern for Richwood because it is located at the junction of the South Fork and the North Fork of the Cherry River.

“Part of the comprehensive planning process is thinking strategically about where a town wants new development,” said Garvey. “Richwood’s comprehensive plan states that future development should be encouraged in relatively flat areas that are outside the floodplain. It also expresses the need for the local government to implement a storm water management plan and identify long- and short-term goals to address the storm water runoff issues the city often faces.”

to the Cherry River, in the shadow of towering mountains blanketed by timber forests.

By the late 1920s, the Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company employed hundreds there. It spawned other factories in town that created products such as clothespins, axe handles, and paper. In fact, Richwood was home to the largest sole leather tannery and the largest clothespin factory in the world. Coal mines flourished within the surrounding mountains.

Richwood saw continued economic growth until the coal and timber industries declined in the 1970s and 1980s. Most other economic sectors in the city have declined since then, leaving the local government with limited resources.

So when they decided it was time to re-create and redevelop the city, Richwood leaders turned to the LUSD Law Clinic.

Working across West Virginia since 2011, the LUSD Law Clinic has helped create and implement more than 30 comprehensive plans or comprehensive plan updates for communities like Richwood.

“Typically, larger municipal governments have a certified planner on staff and maybe even a municipal attorney, but a lot of the communities in West Virginia are small and they just don’t have the resources to hire a professional staff,” said Kat Garvey, the Clinic’s director. “So we help them develop and implement comprehensive plans and other planning documents.”

Richwood’s new comprehensive plan outlined a detailed strategy to develop a local arts community and niche markets to boost the city’s economy, to revitalize and beautify the downtown, to improve infrastructure and get rid of dilapidated homes and buildings, and to develop safe and affordable housing.

The plan also addresses zoning and land use regulations, including a plan for floodplain management. The comprehensive

But on June 22 the rain came and kept on coming.

The lush forests overlooking Richwood seemed to shrink as they were engulfed by clouds that carried a seemingly never-ending rain.

The flooding in Richwood hit just one week after the planning commission adopted the comprehensive plan. There was no time to implement the kind of floodplain management outlined by the LUSD Law Clinic.

The water damaged 100 of the city’s structures, some of which were already identified as dilapidated before the flood.

But the work done by the Richwood planning commission and the LUSD Law Clinic helped benefit the community, according to Garvey.

“The comprehensive planning process primarily helped establish some goals and objectives for Richwood and now, after the flood, when they’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s a document they can turn to for guidance.,” she said. “Another benefit is that the Comprehensive Plan is a prerequisite to some forms of relief funding.”

By adopting a comprehensive plan before the flood, Richwood received a $650,000 grant from Hosanna Industries to help rebuild. The grant would not have been awarded without the plan.

The Richwood municipal government also took the LUSD Law Clinic’s advice after the floods to adopt a building code. The code outlines specific regulations relating to developing inside the floodplain.

“The building code has a set of accepted standards that help determine what makes a building structurally sound. Now that they have the building code, new development is likely to have much better structural integrity and will hold up longer than if it weren’t built under the code,” Garvey explained.

Photo by Jeromy Rose Richwood, West Virginia Richwood volunteer firefighters look on as floodwaters turn Oakford Avenue into a river and a landslide knocks out power to the city.

conduct the process to comply with statutory and constitutional requirements.

As a result, the National Guard was able to demolish the “total loss” structures and remove debris, completing the work in weeks. It would have taken Alderson a few years to remove the material without the ordinances and the National Guard’s assistance, Richardson said.

Taking down dilapidated buildings also allowed Alderson to focus on a need outlined in its Comprehensive Plan.

Christy DeMuth, the Clinic’s land use planner, had worked with Alderson’s local government long before the floods to create and implement the plan. It had been adopted in June.

“In Alderson’s case, they identified areas of the town that were concerns in regards to abandoned and dilapidated buildings, so now they can use their plan to determine what their vision is moving forward in these areas that were more impacted by the floods,” DeMuth explained.

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On the border of Greenbrier and Monroe Counties, West Virginia, lies the small town of Alderson. After the flooding, the town council needed to demolish damaged structures and haul away debris. Thanks to the LUSD Law Clinic’s work, Alderson was able to begin its journey to recovery quickly.

“There are a lot of dilapidated buildings in West Virginia, and the flood exacerbated that in a lot of situations, like in Alderson,” said Jesse Richardson, the Clinic’s lead attorney.

“Buildings that were already dilapidated were now wiped out by the flood, and buildings that were previously okay were now dilapidated because they had been flooded.”

Some of those structures posed a threat to public health and safety and needed to be removed immediately.

But to do that, a building inspector or FEMA official needed to designate the structures as a “total loss.” Alderson also needed the help of the National Guard. The LUSD Law Clinic advised Alderson on how to call an emergency meeting, draft the proper emergency ordinance, and

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Paul Raines (left), owner of Western Auto in Rainelle, saw the flood coming just in time to tape and barricade his doors shut, but by 8 p.m. the water broke through, carrying debris and mud inside and 40 years of merchandise and memories out. It wasn’t until 11 a.m. the next day that the water receded enough for him to wade out. His store is open again, but he worries for the future of the businesses and jobs in flood-affected towns like his.

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Photos by Raymond Thompson Jr.

North of Alderson, in Greenbrier County, the Appalachia Service Project has partnered with the Town of Rainelle in an effort to build more than 50 homes for residents who lost everything in the floods.

Before the project could gain funding, though, the organization needed either an engineer or an attorney to visit Rainelle and designate the homes as blighted properties. So the Appalachia Service Project approached the LUSD Law Clinic.

“The Clinic had recently been reviewing statutory language on the legal definition of ‘blight,’” said Clinic director Garvey, “so it was easy for us to look at that definition and then look at those properties and make a determination that yes, in fact, all of those properties were blighted.”

The Clinic’s designations of blighted properties have allowed the Appalachia Service Project to move forward and help Rainelle’s residents return to a normal life.

The Clinic’s students and supervising attorneys are now providing pro bono real estate services to the Appalachia Service Project.

Down the street, Rainelle Maytag store owner Bill Bell (right), his sister, and his wife spent the night on the roof of the store as the flood destroyed thousands of dollars of appliances, kitchen cabinets, and parts. Gas, leaking from tanks in the store below, filled the air. But he said the worst part of the flood was driving through town after the waters retreated, seeing the homes of friends and family destroyed, their belongings scattered and heaped in piles beside the road like garbage.

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Photo by Kara Lofton, West Virginia Public Broadcasting SPRING 2017

Clendenin, West Virginia Muddy cars sit in front of a flooded home, June 25, 2016.

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Months later, the communities hit hardest by the floods are still, in many ways, in the early stages of recovery efforts.

Almost 9,000 West Virginia homeowners and renters had applied for FEMA disaster assistance. More than $33.3 million in individual housing assistance grants had been approved.

But local officials are ready to move away from just being reactive to these kinds of tragedies.

Towns like Alderson, White Sulphur Springs and Richwood have approached the LUSD Law Clinic to help prevent history from repeating itself, and the Clinic is helping them prepare for the possibility of more catastrophic flooding.

One such initiative is a flood-planning workshop for community leaders hosted by the LUSD Law Clinic, West Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association and FEMA. The first one was held in Lewisburg in November.

A continuing legal education seminar for attorneys and planners focused on flood-planning will be held in conjunction with the West Virginia Municipal League Conference in early 2018 in Charleston.

“The flood was a tragic event, and it cost lives and property,” said Richardson. “However, the silver lining is that

we now have communities who come together and say ‘we need to do a comprehensive plan to deal with these flood issues’ or ‘we need to really work on our zoning ordinance to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.’ So I think that has been one positive outcome of the flood.”

Being able to provide land use planning and legal services pro bono allows communities to work on some longer term goals like economic development, floodplain management and historic preservation — all issues they normally would not have the resources to tackle by themselves, Garvey explained.

“As communities get into the more intermediate and long-term recovery efforts, there will be more interest in land-use planning and managing development outside of the floodplain,” she predicted.

“There will be an increased understanding of the tools that communities can use to protect residents from floods.

Because the Clinic has already worked with a lot of these communities, we are a trusted resource they can call and ask questions, and we will be there for them as they deal with what comes next.”

Last fall, the Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic hosted a workshop in Lewisburg, West Virginia, that addressed planning for the next flood. Representatives from FEMA and the West Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association assisted with the event and help lead discussions.

Workshop participants included representatives of the Regional Planning

and Development Councils, the Governor’s Office, HUD, the State Office of Homeland Security, planners, floodplain managers and elected officials and citizens from the communities most impacted by the flood.

A variety of flood preparedness Issues were discussed with a focus on regulatory and nonregulatory strategies to minimize human casualties and property damage.

The themes that emerged from the workshop included regional cooperation and collaboration, coordination between local, state and federal agencies, NGOs and other stakeholders, and a need for continued education and training.

Total recovery costs related to the flooding

Public assistance, including paying property damage and expenses incurred by local governments and nonprofits

Visitors served in the State and FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers

FEMA inspectors of flooddamaged properties

Individual assistance, including people whose homes or rental properties suffered damage

Other needs assistance includes expenses related to individuals and households such as medical, dental expenses and burial expenses

For schools, which will go to rebuild Herbert Hoover High School, Clendenin Elementary, Richwood High, Richwood Middle and Summersville Middle School

Low-interest disaster loans approved by U.S. Small Business Administration totaling more than $47 million

Direct federal assistance, mostly covering mobile home units

Stream cleanup performed by the West Virginia Conservation Agency

For mitigation to prevent any future dangers

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West Virginia homeowners and renters who applied for FEMA disaster assistance

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Flashback

SPRING 2017

J.R. Clifford’s Enduring Legacy

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Image courtesy WVU – West Virginia & Regional History Center

Civil rights pioneer John Robert “J.R.” Clifford was West Virginia’s first African American attorney. He did not earn his law degree from WVU, but his legacy is enshrined and honored at the College of Law. Born in 1848 in present-day Moorefield, West Virginia, Clifford enlisted in the United States Colored Troops when he was 15 years old and served in the Civil War as a corporal in the Union Army.

After the war, Clifford attended Storer College in Harper’s Ferry, where he graduated in 1875 with a teaching degree. He became a teacher and eventually the principal at the Sumner School, a black public school in Martinsburg.

Clifford added the title of “journalist” to his resume in 1882 when he founded and began publishing the Pioneer Press. It was West Virginia’s first newspaper owned by an African American and the first newspaper to promote African American issues.

Clifford read the law and passed the bar. In 1887, he became the first African American admitted to practice law before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

That put him on course to be one of the first lawyers in the nation to challenge segregation in the public school system, more than 50 years before Brown v. Board of Education.

That pioneering case was Williams v. Board of Education. It was brought John Robert “J.R.” Clifford

Devan Simmons, Class of 2020

Law today is through an endowed scholarship for minority students. This year’s recipient is Devan Simmons.

“I am honored to be the first student to receive this scholarship, especially knowing that J.R. Clifford was West Virginia’s first African American lawyer,” he said. “This scholarship will motivate me to hold myself to a high standard and work hard throughout my law school career.”

Simmons is interested in pursuing contract law with an international concentration. He is especially interested in contracts and copyright issues surrounding the music industry.

Prior to law school, Simmons earned his bachelor’s degree in

international relations with minors in law and political science from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.

He is originally from Bluefield, West Virginia.

The J.R. Clifford Scholarship is intended to encourage the College of Law to be more competitive in attracting and retaining minority students. The scholarship demonstrates the efforts made by the law school and its donors to direct philanthropic support toward furthering the institution’s diversity initiatives.

For more information about supporting or establishing scholarships at the College of Law, contact Jennie James, assistant dean for development, at jennie.james@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-7367.

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before the West Virginia Supreme Court after the Tucker County Board of Education shortened the public school year for black students from nine to five months. The school year for white students remained nine months.

In defiance of her school board, Tucker County teacher Carrie Williams continued to teach classes for black students for the full school year. As a result, she was not paid for her work, and she and Clifford filed a lawsuit for her back pay.

The court ruled in Williams’ favor in 1898, upholding that black and white students should have the same educational rights. It was among the first rulings in the United States to make racial discrimination illegal.

Clifford continued to advance African American civil rights, and in 1906, he organized the first meeting of the Niagara Movement held on American soil. It took place at his alma mater, Storer College.

The Niagara Movement became the foundation for the modern Civil Rights Movement and the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Clifford practiced law for 45 years and remained active in both state and national politics until his death in 1933.

He continued his trailblazing career by serving as the first vice president at the American Negro Academy and as the president of the National Independent League.

“John Robert Clifford was a man of strength. He was an educator, a journalist, and a national civil rights leader. The College is proud to honor him as West Virginia’s first African American lawyer,” said Larry Starcher, visiting lecturer in law and former Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court.

Clifford died in 1933. One way his legacy is honored at the College of

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EXCEL. LEAD. SERVE. West Virginia University’s LL.M. program will take your career into new territory.

ENERGY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW Work in and shape the field of energy and environmental law at a higher level.

FORENSIC JUSTICE Work in and out of the courtroom with expert witnesses, crime scene investigators, and DNA and other scientifically gathered evidence.

ONE-YEAR PROGRAM Online or traditional classes

law.wvu.edu

Ask an Expert: LL.M. Program Photo by Chelsi Baker

Professor Joshua Fershee is the associate dean for faculty research and development and director of the LL.M. programs in Forensic Justice and Energy and Sustainable Development Law. Both LL.M. degree programs are now offered online.

Why is an LL.M. relevant to the practice of law?

Our LL.M. degree programs provide modern lawyers with the ability to, over the course of about a year, gain deep knowledge in specialized areas of the law. Our LL.M. students work with recognized experts in their fields, which helps these lawyers obtain cutting-edge knowledge that would typically take years of practice. As such, those who participate in our LL.M. programs are able to combine their existing legal skills and training with their new or expanded areas of expertise, making them industryready at graduation.

What are the benefits of WVU Law’s LL.M. degrees?

Moving WVU Law’s LL.M. programs into the online environment enables the programs to provide attorneys convenient access to this in-depth education in a way that was not imaginable in years past.

The programs are designed to maintain the rigorous, interactive nature of our classroom environment without requiring students to put their work life on hold.

Students are able to earn their degrees with modest on-campus time commitments and without having to move across the state or the country, while gaining individualized access to their professors and the others in their degree program.

What’s unique about the LL.M. programs?

Joshua Fershee is a graduate of Tulane Law School and Michigan State University. His research and scholarship focus is primarily on energy law and business law issues. He joined the faculty in fall 2012 and was appointed associate dean in 2015.

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Our Forensic Justice LL.M. is the first of its kind and provides lawyers with access to critical training related to forensic evidence. The value and accuracy of forensic evidence in recent years has seriously been called into question, and this training can help prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges understand what works and what doesn’t. Accuracy in assessing evidence is critical to ensuring our justice system works.

Our Energy and Sustainable Development Law LL.M. provides students with access to experts in energy law and regulation, environmental protection, and

sustainable development (including land use). This degree program requires students to acquire the depth and breadth of knowledge to work in all aspects of energy and environmental law by making sure that students have the tools to assess the economic, environmental, and social impacts of natural resource development and the skills to make sound recommendations on law and policy, regardless of who they represent.

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Thinking it Through: Forensic Justice LL.M.: At the Intersection of Law and Science

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Nicola Charles has long been drawn to the science behind criminal justice and law enforcement.

In May 2016, Charles earned her J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. Now, she’s taking her legal education to higher level with an LL.M. in Forensic Justice online from the WVU College of Law and is expected to finish in August 2017.

“I wanted to do something that merged my law degree with my forensic science background,” said Charles. “That’s where the LL.M in Forensic Justice comes in, and I believe it is the catalyst that seamlessly merges my two areas of expertise.”

Before law school, Charles had a successful 15-year career in forensic science. She spent eight years as a crime scene specialist for the Gwinnett County (Georgia) Police Department, processing crime scenes from burglaries to homicides.

As a certified U.S. Army instructor, Charles later trained soldiers to identify, collect, and process forensic material in combat zones.

At a forensic lab in Iraq, she processed and analyzed forensic material collected in combat zones. Then, in Afghanistan, she developed and analyzed fingerprints from recovered improvised explosive devices (IED) as a Certified Latent Print Examiner (CLPE).

When Charles returned to the United States, she opened a consulting firm that provides criminal defense lawyers with forensic assessments of their cases. One of her key jobs is to provide court testimony based on her findings.

The Forensic Justice LL.M. will allow Charles to testify as an expert in fingerprint analysis and forensic science as well as provide legal analyses in court, she explained.

Charles also plans to use her LL.M. to teach other lawyers forensic science CLE seminars, she said.

When she began looking for a program to help advance her career, Charles could not find a program that combined her career and law degree.

“I had been looking for something like WVU Law’s LL.M. program, but nobody offered it,” said Charles.

“One day I was on my computer and an ad for the LL.M. in Forensic Justice popped up. It was like divine intervention, like Jesus was telling me, ‘this is where you need to be’.”

While she completes her LL.M. online, Charles is working for the Veal Law Firm in McDonough, Georgia.

Photo by Tatsu Johnson

WVU College of Law offers the only LL.M. in Forensic Justice in the country. It is designed to prepare lawyers to work in and out of the courtroom with expert witnesses, crime scene investigators, and DNA and other scientifically gathered evidence.

The coursework is vigorous, she said, but her professors make themselves available via email and telephone to provide her the guidance and assistance she needs to be successful.

The Forensic Science LL.M. is taught by law professors and faculty from WVU’s Department of Forensic and Investigative Science at the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

In addition to her J.D., Charles holds multiple certifications including crime scene investigation, crime scene photography, blood splatter analysis, crime scene processing, latent print comparison, and latent film development. She is also a member of the International Association for Identification and the Georgia Division of the International Association for Identification.

Nicola Charles migrated to New York City from Guyana when she was 12 years old. She is the only person from that country who is a CLPE. When she passes the Georgia Bar Exam, she will also become the only person in the world to be both a CLPE and a lawyer, she says.

Charles earned a B.A. in Government and minors in English and History from John J. College of Criminal Justice.

Back on Campus Photos by Chelsi Baker

Throughout the fall semester, alumni and friends brought their expertise to Law School Hill, speaking to students on a variety of topics.

Michael Cary ’11 (Cary Law Office) told students about starting and running their own practice.

Peter Markham ’03 (formerly Office of the Governor of West Virginia) spoke about lawyers and the legislative process.

Tim Miller ’80 (Babst Calland), Roger Christenson ’11 (Antero Resources), Natalie Jefferis ’02 (EQT), and David Morrison (Steptoe & Johnson) discussed careers in energy law.

ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS Aaron Moss ’15 (Assistant Federal Defender in Martinsburg) spoke about prison reform.

Heather Noel ’98 (MacCorkle Lavender), Laurie Barbe ’90 (Steptoe & Johnson), Alex Greenberg ’12 (Dinsmore & Shohl), Teresa Dumire ’99 (Kay Casto & Chaney), and Michael Cardi (Bowles Rice) talked to 1Ls about job interviewing skills.

Shannon Smith ’06 (Kay Casto & Chaney) and Eric Hayhurst ’09 (Farmer, Cline & Campbell) discussed civil litigation.

Ashley Hardesty Odell ’03 (Bowles Rice), Matt Thorn (Sal Sellaro Thorn Culpepper), Jason Pizatella ’07 (Morgantown Chamber of Commerce), Kayla Cook ’12 (Bowles Rice), and Sunita Kellermeyer (WVU Medicine) discussed work/life balance.

If you would like to talk to current students about a particular topic or area of the law, please contact Jennie James, assistant dean for development, at 304-293-7367 or jennie.james@mail.wvu.edu.

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West Virginia delegates Roger Hanshaw ’12 (R-Clay, 33) and Andrew Byrd ’08 (D-Kanawha, 35) participated in a mock legislative hearing.

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SPRING 2017

Alumni Profile

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Photo by Sheree Wentz

Jenny Thoma

HAS FOUND HER PASSION West Virginia, and pursuing an LL.M. in Forensic Justice at WVU Law. As a 3L, Thoma was a Rule 10 attorney in the West Virginia Innocence Project (WVIP) law clinic where she worked to exonerate the wrongfully convicted.

To better serve her WVIP clients, Thoma had received special permission to enroll in a forensic and chemical evidence course, normally reserved for students in in Forensic Justice LL.M. program. As a result, she was trained in DNA evidence, chemical analysis for drug and arson cases, and toxicology.

One of Thoma’s clinic clients was Jeremiah Mongold. The Hampshire County, WV, native was in the 11th year of a 40-year sentence for the death of his stepdaughter. Throughout his incarceration, he consistently maintained his innocence.

The case against Mongold in 2005 was built on shaken baby syndrome.

However, medical experts contacted by Thoma and the WVIP determined that his stepdaughter may have died from vasculitis, a rare illness that causes the body to attack its own blood cells.

In May 2016, a judge threw out Mongold’s conviction and his case was taken by Jones Day. A new trial is scheduled for spring 2017.

Thoma’s J.D. career ended in another high note. Not long after graduation, she found out that she had won the inaugural regional Public Interest Award from Equal Justice Works for her commitment to public service.

She was selected out of more than 30 applicants from 26 laws schools in the Southeast to receive the award. Based in Washington, D.C., Equal Justice Works helps law students and lawyers provide effective representation to underserved communities and causes.

A native of Moorefield, West Virginia, Thoma is past president of WVU Law’s Public Interest Advocates (PIA). Among her accomplishments, she led PIA’s successful annual effort to raise funds for fellowships for students to work in public interest law. Thoma is a former PIA Fellowship recipient and worked at the Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, and the Kanawha County Public Defender’s office.

Prior to law school, Thoma worked at the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources and served as a volunteer lobbyist with Alaska Wilderness League in Washington, D.C. LAW.WVU.EDU

You might say Jenny Thoma’s path to law school began with a detour.

The 2016 WVU Law graduate initially set her sights on a career in Communications Studies. She had earned her B.A. and M.A. (from WVU) in the field and was pursuing her Ph.D., when the epiphany happened.

“A lot of my time was spent teaching undergraduate courses, that, although it had its moments, just wasn’t my passion,” explains Thoma. “I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

So she sat down with a graduate course catalog and found a class that looked interesting: Advanced Legal Research, a 2L course. Taught by WVU Law librarians, it appealed to Thoma’s love of research and interest in the law that was inspired by Aaron Swartz, the internet entrepreneur and activist who took his own life in 2013 while under federal indictment for alleged computer crimes.

“They let me stay in the class, and I really enjoyed it. So, I signed up for the February LSAT just in the nick of time, took that, applied to law school, and the rest is history,” said Thoma.

She is now a clerk to the Honorable Michael Aloi, federal magistrate in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of

39

Alumni Profile

BOB DOUGLAS

SPRING 2017

FROM COAL CAMP – TO WVU – To THE COURTROOM

40

Attorney Bob Douglas considers himself the luckiest man in the world.

“It all starts with a good education and a good upbringing,” said the 1956 College of Law graduate.

Douglas grew up in a coal camp in McDowell County. Life inside his little community instilled in him values that eventually led him to West Virginia University and then on to his law career.

Occasionally throughout his childhood, Douglas’s father took him on road trips to Pennsylvania. As they would pass through Morgantown on the way to the state border, his father would tell him, “Someday, you might be lucky enough to go to the University.”

That luck came in the form of the GI Bill. After serving in the U.S. Army under General Douglas MacArthur in Tokyo, Japan, Douglas was able to enroll in WVU. One of his proudest accomplishments as an undergraduate at WVU was being

drum major in the marching band from 1949-1952. Douglas is the only drum major in WVU history to lead the band for four consecutive years, and he returns to WVU’s Homecoming every year to lead the alumni band.

That love of twirling, which began in fourth grade, continued into Douglas’s adulthood, and he led the Charleston, West Virginia, Shrine band from 1959 until the early 1990s.

Douglas says his real love is the law and working with people faced with legal issues who genuinely appreciate his effort to make their lives better.

A member of Carey, Scott, Douglas, and Kessler, PLLC in Charleston, he represents individuals and corporations in cases including contractual claims, product liability, personal injury, and mining law.

His clients’ appreciation is more rewarding than just a paycheck. Practicing law is not just about receiving payment for services, he said.

June 2016 marked Douglas’ 60th anniversary as a practicing attorney without ever representing a government agency.

“Those types of institutions pay you for your work, but they show little appreciation for your time and effort,” said Douglas.

Until retiring recently, Douglas spent 50 years as general counsel for Appalachian Tire Products, Williamson Oil, and Mountain Mining & Supply.

He has been admitted to practice before the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia, the West

Virginia Supreme Court, and the United States Supreme Court.

Douglas served for 18 years as West Virginia counsel for Georgia-Pacific and was a defense attorney for Lake Asbestos of Quebec, ASARCO, Fisher Scientific, and Fairchild International. He was also a trustee in bankruptcy for the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.

When he earned his law degree in 1956, Douglas packed up a rental truck and headed for Charleston with two other lawyers, classmates Paul Friedberg and Gene Hal Williams. He stayed at the YMCA while clerking for Steptoe & Johnson before eventually opening his own firm.

His big break came in 1960, when he won the first large case that got his firm off the ground.

Years later, Douglas took on the groundbreaking case of Estate of Garrison Tawney, et al. v. Columbia Natural Resources, et al.

The case got started because Lela Anne Tawney Goff walked into Douglas’s office with a handful of royalty checks and said she thought she was being cheated.

The result was a class action lawsuit brought against the gas company by more than 10,000 lessors. They accused Columbia Natural Resources of “fraudulently, intentionally, and knowingly” underpaying royalties by deducting postproduction costs and underselling futures contracts.

The monumental case took 10 years, required a joint effort with other firms,

Photo couresy Library of Congress/Ben Shahn Photo couresy Bob Douglas LAW.WVU.EDU

and a final ruling by the United States Supreme Court. In the end, Douglas and his legal team won a $396 million settlement for the land owners.

Growing up in the McDowell County coal camp, Douglas learned that “people help people,” he said.

He saw kindness and a willingness to help others growing up, which instilled in him a desire to help those in need throughout his life.

Douglas supports the Boy Scouts of America and gave them a gift that helped the organization erect a new building in Charleston. He also recently helped the First Presbyterian Church in Charleston purchase a new organ. After his son’s death in 2015, Douglas started a scholarship in his honor at Davis and Elkins College.

41

Justitia Officium Profiles Attorney Allan N. Karlin and Professor Emeritus Robert Lathrop received the 2016 Justitia Officium Award from WVU Law. The award recognizes outstanding contributions and service to the legal profession. Established in 1978, the Justitia Officium is the highest honor bestowed by the College of Law faculty.

Allan N. Karlin Allan Karlin came to West Virginia in 1975 to work in legal aid. He later opened his own practice in Morgantown to represent victims of unlawful discrimination, workers who were wrongfully discharged, West Virginians victimized by civil rights violations, and those killed or injured in unsafe work places.

He has successfully represented victims of race, gender, and other forms of discrimination, injured workers, and individuals denied constitutional rights.

His work has established important legal precedents in the field of employment law.

In 2006, Karlin was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers, a fellowship of the best trial lawyers in the nation. In 2007, he was named a Fellow of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers as one of the country’s most accomplished attorneys in that field.

Karlin helped found and teach the first course in pretrial litigation at the WVU College of Law. He earned his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California and his B.A. from Yale University.

Robert Lathrop is a professor of law Emeritus at West Virginia University. He retired in 2012 after teaching for 33 years, specializing in tax law.

During his tenure at WVU Law, Lathrop served on numerous leadership committees, and he advised moot court teams and the international legal fraternity, Phi Delta Phi. A former associate dean for academic affairs, Lathrop was also a two-time acting dean for the law school.

In public service, Lathrop is a past director of the West Virginia Law Institute, the state’s official advisory law revision and law reform agency. He also advised organizations and state and local

governments on tax issues, including the West Virginia Tax Institute and the West Virginia Tax Commission.

Lathrop’s s career in the law spans six decades, beginning in 1964 when he was a clerk at Travelers Insurance Company in Hartford, Connecticut. He worked for law firms in New York and Vermont and spent several years with Vermont’s Department of Taxes, including serving as Commissioner of Taxes.

Lathrop earned his B.A. and LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws) from Washington and Lee University and an LL.M. from New York University School of Law.

SPRING 2017

Robert G. Lathrop

42

College Development Photos by Chelsi Baker

Dean’s Partners Gala More than 200 alumni and friends gathered at the Erickson Alumni Center in August for the annual Dean’s Partners Gala. To become a Dean’s Partner, contact Jennie James, assistant dean for development, at 304-293-7367 or jennie.james@mail.wvu.edu.

Marilyn McClure-Demers ’91 and her parents, Richard and Shirley.

Larry Rowe ’76 and his son, Christian, a WVU sophomore Walter and Shawn Williams with Bob Simons ’82.

New Dean’s Partners, 2015-2016 Gregory, Abigail and Ethan Bowman Supporting Student Scholarships

Rob and Judy Fisher

hauncey & Judy Browning III in Honor of C Chauncey H. Browning Jr.

Molliane Starcher Hamilton

Casey & Chapman, PLLC Establishment of a Fellowship at Legal Aid of WV In Memory of the Honorable Regina Lee Charon riends of J.R. Clifford, West Virginia’s First F African American Lawyer Amy C. Crossan WVU Law 1996

Troy N. Giatras in Pursuit of Trial Excellence Rich and Jennifer Hofmann Vicki A. Moses Amy Starcher Muchnok Deborah D. Nikjeh Michele Rusen L. Victor Starcher II

LAW.WVU.EDU

43

College Development

Donor Report The following have given to the WVU College of Law between January 1 and December 31, 2016.

Mr. and Mrs. Michael A. Albert Mr. and Mrs. John C. Allen

Mrs. Marcia A. Broughton and Dr. Stephen B. Broughton

Mrs. Jennifer E. Alkire Esq

Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Brown

Mr. and Mrs. John D. Amos

Mr. Haskell C. Brown III

Ms. Leslie J. Anderson

Mrs. Lindsey A. Brugnoli-O’Hara

Mr. and Mrs. Webster J. Arceneaux III

Mr. Tighe C. Bullock

Mr. and Mrs. George B. Armistead

Dr. John M. Bush and Mrs. Catherine M. Bush

Mr. and Mrs. James F. Armstrong Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Bailey Mr. Kenneth R. Bannon

Mr. Fred Butler and Ms. Deborah K. Garton

Mr. David Barnette and Mrs. Cynthia Wegley Barnette

Ms. Gretchen Callas

Mr. Adam E. Barney Esq Mr. David R. Barney, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Robert E. Barrat Mr. Robert M. Bastress and Ms. Barbara E. Fleischauer

SPRING 2017

Mr. John M. Canfield Ms. Lois S. Cashdollar Mr. and Mrs. John J. Cassell Mrs. Chaelyn W. Casteel Esq Ms. Anne B. Charnock

Mr. Robert M. Bastress III

Mrs. Anne G. Selinger Charon

Mr. Christopher L. Bauer

Mr. and Mrs. Clifton E. Clark

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph J. Bean, Jr.

Mrs. Sabrina M. Clark

Mr. and Mrs. W. Marston Becker

Dr. and Mrs. Paul C. Cline

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Beeson

Mrs. Marcie E. McClintic Coates

Ms. Jessica S. Benedict Esq

Mr. Robert F. Cohen, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Norwood Bentley III

Mr. and Mrs. Vincent A. Collins

Ms. Mildred S. Biggs

Mr. and Mrs. Steven M. Condaras

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick W. Blanc

Mrs. Susan K. Conner

Mr. and Mrs. Stuart F. Bloch

Mr. Christopher W. Cooper Esq

Mr. and Mrs. David P. Born

Mr. and Mrs. John W. Cooper

Mr. and Mrs. Kirk H. Bottner Esq

Mr. Brent P. Copenhaver

Mr. and Mrs. P. Nathan Bowles, Jr.

The Hon. and Mrs. John T. Copenhaver, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Forest J. Bowman

Mr. Franklin G. Crabtree

Mr. Gregory W. Bowman

Mr. and Mrs. Paul R. Cranston

Mr. Dennis L. Boyer

Mr. and Mrs. Charles V. Critchfield

Mr. and Mrs. William K. Bragg, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. James E. Crockard III

Ms. Mary R. Brandt JD

Ms. Erica A. Cross

Mr. and Mrs. Harold D. Brewster, Jr.

44

Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Bush

Mr. J. Stephen Britt

Ms. Amy C. Crossan Mr. and Mrs. James J. Culpepper

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Curia, Jr. Ms. Camille M. Currey Ms. Pamela L. Dalton-Arlotti Ms. Ann H. Dao Ms. Lia A. Deane Ms. Pamela C. Deem Mr. and Mrs. Patrick D. Deem Esq Mr. and Mrs. J. Lyn DeHaven Mr. and Mrs. Michael Del Giudice Mr. Thomas A. Deveny III Prof. Charles R. DiSalvo and Ms. Kathleen M. Kennedy Mrs. Stephanie Sloan Dobbins Mr. and Mrs. Andrew P. Doman Mr. and Mrs. John K. Dorsey Mr. and Mrs. D. Lyn Dotson Mr. Jarod J. Douglas Esq Ms. April L. Dowler Ms. Teresa J. Dumire Esq Mr. Travis H. Eckley Esq Ms. Mary K. Edgar Mr. and Mrs. Rex L. Edwards, Jr. Mr. and Mrs. J. Kevin Ellis Mr. and Mrs. A.L. Emch Mr. Michael T. Escue Esq Dr. Philip M. Eskew Ms. Michelle L. Varga Esposito Mr. Russell F. Ethridge Esq Mr. and Mrs. George R. Farmer, Jr. Mrs. Sue S. Farnsworth Mr. Mark J. Farrell Esq Mr. and Mrs. Michael J. Farrell Dr. Andrea K. Faulkner Ms. Adriana M. Faycurry Mr. and Mrs. Marc C. Ferrell Prof. Joshua P. Fershee and Prof. Kendra J. H. Fershee

Mr. William H. File III

Dr. and Mrs. Allan S. Hammock

Mr. and Mrs. Eugene P. Kopp

Mr. and Mrs. John W. Fisher II

Mr. David C. Hardesty and Mrs. Susan H. Hardesty

Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Kuenzel II

Mr. David M. Flannery and Ms. Kathy G. Beckett

Mr. Joshua P. Hardy

Mr. John T. Langston

Mr. W. Martin Harrell

Mr. Robert M. Fletcher

Mr. Beedeah Hassen and Mrs. Noel Hassen

Mr. Robert G. and Mrs. Elisabeth R. Lathrop

Mr. and Mrs. Robert D. Fisher

Mr. Brandon S. Flower and Dr. Lisa A. Flower

Ms. Yolonda G. Lambert

Mr. Daniel T. Lattanzi

The Hon. John W. Hatcher, Jr.

Mrs. Paula Lautzenheiser

Judge and Mrs. Edwin F. Flowers

Mrs. Laurel Haught

Mrs. Elizabeth S. Lawton

Mr. and Mrs. James A. Ford CLU

Mr. and Mrs. Seth P. Hayes

Mr. and Mrs. J. Franklin Long

Mr. and Mrs. James W. Forsyth Esq

Dr. Rachel Hinerman

Ms. Mary F. Loss

The Hon. Fred L. Fox and Mrs. Deborah Fox

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond A. Hinerman, Sr.

Mr. Charles M. Love and Dr. Sally M. Love

Mr. Sam Fox

Mr. John D. Hoffman and Mrs. Ellen Maxwell Hoffman

Mr. and Mrs. Steven F. Luby Esq

Mr. and Mrs. William L. Frame Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Francis

Mr. and Mrs. Richard P. Hofmann

Ms. Cynthia R. Mabry-King

Ms. Tasha D. Frazie

Mr. Patrick I. Holbrook

Ms. Christine A. MacHel

Judge and Mrs. John R. Frazier

Mrs. Loren B. Howley

Mr. Roger L. Magro

Mr. and Mrs. W. Michael Frazier

Mr. James F. Humphreys

Mrs. Cynthia A. Majestro

Mr. and Mrs. James J. Friedberg

Mrs. Billie J. Hutsenpiller

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence W. Marquess

Mr. and Mrs. Robert W. Full

Mr. H. Matthew Hymes II

Mr. Roy C. Martin

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew G. Fusco

Ms. Mona A. Ibrahim

Ms. Katherine M. Mason

Mr. Matthew W. Gallimore

Mr. Gary A. Jack

Mr. William B. Maxwell III

Mr. David Geaney

Ms. Jennie L. James

Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy C. McCamic

Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. George III

Mr. and Mrs. H. Marshall Jarrett II

Mr. and Mrs. James H. McCauley

Mr. Matthew S. Gibbs

Mr. Andrew R. and Natalie N. Jefferis

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas M. McCulloch

Mrs. Joan A. Gibson

Mr. E. Perry Johnson

Prof. Marjorie A. McDiarmid

Ms. Mary Jane Glasscock

Mr. and Mrs. Jerald E. Jones

Ms. Deborah L. McHenry

Ms. Joyce Goldstein

Ms. Meredith R. Jones

Mr. Benjamin C. McKinney

Mrs. Ellen G. Goodwin

Mr. and Mrs. Norris Kantor

Mrs. Laura A. McKinney

Ms. Devon L. Gosnell

Drs. Kenneth S. and Virginia B. Karb

Mr. and Mrs. Mark W. McOwen

Mr. and Mrs. James D. Gray

Mr. David M. Karickhoff

Dr. Amelia McPeak

Mr. John T. and Mrs. Bryan F. Greene

Mr. Ronald W. Kasserman

Mr. and Mrs. John T. Greene, Jr.

Judge Tod J. Kaufman

Mrs. Mary G. McQuain and Mr. Thomas J. McQuain

Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Greer

Mr. and Mrs. James R. Keegan

Mrs. Tammy A. McWilliams

Dr. Donna P. Grill

Mr. and Mrs. William A. Kerr

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph L. Meadows

Mr. and Mrs. Patrick L. Gregg

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffry M. Kessel

Ms. Joy B. Mega Esq

Mrs. Priscilla A. Haden

Mr. Asad U. Khan

Lt. Col.(Ret) and Mrs. David B. Mercier

Mr. and Mrs. David B. Hanna

Mr. Aaron M. Kidd

Mr. Mark J. Merrill

Ms. Stephanie L. Hainer-Ojeda

Atty. Douglas A. Kilmer

Mr. and Mrs. Charles A. Miller

Mr. and Mrs. Mark C. Hamilton

Mr. and Mrs. H. L. Kirkpatrick III

Ms. Francesca M. Miller

Mr. Mark W. Hamilton and Mrs. Mollianne Starcher Hamilton

Mr. and Mrs. Caleb P. Knight

Mrs. Karen H. Miller

Mrs. Angela W. Konrad Esq

Dr. and Mrs. Jack L. Hammersmith

Ms. Michelle L. Kopnski

Mr. Perry F. Miller and Mrs. Taunja Willis-Miller

Mr. and Mrs. William R. Hinerman

Mr. and Mrs. Lee A. Luce

LAW.WVU.EDU

45

College Development

SPRING 2017

Donor Report

46

Mr. Robert Miller

Mr. and Mrs. John T. Poffenbarger

Mr. Santino T. Serpento

Mr. and Mrs. Timothy M. Miller

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew M. Pollack

Mr. Scott Shaffer

Ms. Lydia Milnes

Ms. Alexa Ponist

Mr. and Mrs. Eric F. Moeller Jr.

Ms. Jennifer F. Powell

Mr. Paul R. Sheridan Mrs. Kathleen Fitzgerald Sheridan

Ms. Brittany N. Mohamed

Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Printz, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. David L. Shuman, Sr.

Mr. Harry P. Montoro

Ms. Sonia M. Privette

Ms. Johnna L. Shumate

Ms. Katherine M. Moore

Mr. W. Merton Prunty

Mr. and Mrs. Camden P. Siegrist

Mrs. Shawn M. Morgan

Ms. Chelsea M. Pullen

Judge Gray Silver III

Mr. David A. Morris

Ms. Deirdre H. Purdy

Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Simons

Mr. and Mrs. Gary W. Morris

Mr. Justin M. Raber

Mr. and Mrs. David J. Sims

Mr. C. David Morrison and Dr. Carroll K. Morrison

Mr. and Mrs. Paul M. Rady

Mr. Lawrence R. Skrzysowski

Mr. Ancil G. Ramey

Mrs. Katherine A. Slavic

Ms. Julia A. Morton

Mr. Philip B. Raptis

Mr. Christopher D. Smith

The Hon. and Mrs. Joseph P. Moschetta

Mr. Stephen T. Raptis

Mr. Michael J. Smith

Maj. and Mrs. Danny R. Moye

Mrs. Beth A. Rauer

Mr. and Mrs. Eric J. Sosenko

Mr. Timothy S. Murphy

Mr. Andrew Reseter

Mr. C. Michael Sparks

Mrs. Amy Starcher Muchnok

Mr. and Mrs. Lacy I. Rice, Jr.

The Hon. and Mrs. Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.

Mr. C. Blaine Myers, Jr.

Mr. Andrew N. Richardson

Mr. and Mrs. John Neuner III

Ms. Heather A. Richardson

Mr. Samuel Stanley and Ms. Barbara G. Graham

Ms. Heather D. Nicholson

Dr. Jesse J. Richardson

Mr. Michael Nissim-Sabat

Mr. Charles A. Riffee II

Mr. and Mrs. G. Ogden Nutting Mr. and Mrs. David A. O’Brien

Mrs. Cheryl D. Riley and Mr. Christopher P. Riley

Mrs. Ashley Hardesty Odell

Ms. Rachel Roberti

Mrs. Caroline A. Stoker

Mr. and Mrs. Donald B. O’Dell

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Roberts

Mr. Brian and Ms. Jessica Stolarik

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas J. Obrokta, Jr.

Maj. Gen. and Mrs. Jeffrey A. Rockwell

Ms. Deanna R. Stone

Dr. and Mrs. Guy B. Oldaker III

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Rodd

Mr. and Mrs. George E. Stone

Mr. and Mrs. Charles W. Pace, Sr.

Ms. Teresa Rodeheaver

Mr. and Mrs. Ward D. Stone, Jr.

Mr. Wesley P. Page

Mr. and Mrs. R. Terrance Rodgers

Mr. Kenneth C. Tallman

Mr. and Mrs. John C. Palmer IV

Mr. H. Skip Tarasuk, Jr.

Mr. Louis J. Palmer, Jr.

Mr. Joshua S. Rogers and Dr. Rebecca A. Rogers

Mr. Philip W. Parkinson

Mr. Larry L. Roller

Mr. Andrew S. Taylor

Mr. Carl E. Paul, Jr.

Mr. Albino Roperti

The Hon. C. Reeves Taylor

Mr. Christopher D. and Mrs. Julia A. Pence

Ms. Elizabeth L. Ross

The Hon. Maurice G. Taylor Jr.

Ms. Gale Lea Rubrecht

Mr. and Mrs. J. Gordon Pennington

Ms. Sheryl A. Rucker

Ms. Stephanie D. Taylor and Mr. Richard M. Weibley

Mr. Brian M. Peterson and Ms. Elizabeth A. Roberts

Mr. and Mrs. Duane J. Ruggier II

Mr. and Mrs Marc E. Williams

Mr. and Mrs. Hani S. Saad

Ms. Jenny R. Thoma

Mr. and Mrs. Richard A. Pill Esq

Judge and Mrs. James E. Seibert

Mrs. and Mr. Mary Thomas

Ms. Jo Marie Pitrolo

Mr. and Mrs. Stanley H. Sergent, Jr.

Mrs. Holley M. Thompson

Dr. Larry V. Starcher The Hon. and Mrs. Larry V. Starcher Drs. John E. III and Patricia T. Stealey Ms. Amanda E. Steiner

Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth E. Tawney

Mr. Michael D. Thompson

Ms. Carol Wycoff

Hendrickson & Long, PLLC

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas R. Tinder

The Hon. Paul Zakaib, Jr.

Jackson Kelly PLLC

Mr. John W. Tissue and Ms. Lynne B. Klopf

Ms. Arlene Zarembka

J C Mensore Distributor, Inc.

Mrs. Sophia E. Zdatny

Jividen Law Offices, PLLC

Mr. Robert M. Trumble

Mr. George W. Zundell

John F. Dascoli, PLLC

Mrs. Vicki L. Tucker

Mr. Peter G. Zurbuch

Ms. Cynthia L. Turco

Allan N. Karlin & Associates

Kanawha County Class Action Settlement 2009 Charitable Trust

Mr. and Mrs. Herbert G. Underwood

AMS Ventures, Inc

Law Office Of Jeffrey L. Arnett, PLLC

Mr. W. Warren Upton

American Muscle Docks & Fabrication, LLC

Law Offices of John Einreinhofer

Dr. and Mrs. Richard M. Vaglienti Mr. Stephen R. Van Camp

Arnold & Porter LLP

Mountain State Bar Association

Mr. and Mrs. Gary K. Vanmeter

Arthur B. Hodges Educational Trust

Pat C. Fragile, Attorney at Law

Mrs. Montie Vannostrand

Atkinson & Polak, PLLC

Pauley Curry, PLLC

Mr. and Mrs. Michael B. Victorson

Babst Calland, Attorneys at Law

Philip B. Hereford, Attorney at Law

Mr. Zachary A. Viglianco

Bailey Javins & Carter, LC

Pill & Pill, PLLC

Mr. Phillip P. Wachowiak

Pinkerton Law Practice PLLC

Mr. Frankie C. Walker II

Barbara B. Highland Charitable Lead Trust

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew M. Warner

Berkley Group, LLC

Reginald D. Henry, Attorney at Law, PLLC

Mr. J. Joseph Watkins

Bio-Tech Medical Software, Inc

Richard R. Turano Counsellor at Law

Mr. and Mrs. M. Randall Weaver

Bowles Rice LLP

Robert C. Stone, Jr., PLLC

Mr. William F. Weiss, Jr.

Bowles Rice Foundation

Robinson & McElwee, PLLC

Mr. and Mrs. Peter S. White

BrickStreet Foundation, Inc.

Romano & Associates, PLLC

Mr. Ryan White and Mrs. Kate Roberts White

Bucci Law Firm

Rusen & Auvil, PLLC

Burgess & Niple, Inc.

Shaffer & Shaffer, PLLC

Mrs. Grace J. Wigal

Casey & Chapman, PLLC

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Mr. James E. Williams

Cheat Lake Rotary Club

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Ms. Jordyn E. Williams

Ciccarello, Del Giudice & LaFon

Terrell Ellis & Associates

Mr. and Mrs. Michael T. Williams

The Giatras Law Firm PLLC

Mr. and Mrs. Walter L. Williams

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation

Mr. Christopher J. Williamson

Cyrus, Adkins & Walker, Attorneys at Law

Mr. James R. Williamson, Jr.

Daywood Foundation

Mr. Robert M. Wilmoth and Mrs. Karen L. Wilmoth

Defense Trial Counsel of WV

Mr. and Mrs. Alan J. Wilson

Downstream Strategies, LLC

Ms. Gabriele Wohl

Eugene D. Pecora, Attorney at Law

Mr. Roger A. Wolfe

Flaherty Sensabaugh & Bonasso PLLC

Mr. Robert G. Wolpert

Frank Bliss Enslow Foundation

Mr. Richard E. Wolverton

George D. Hott Foundation

Mr. Justin L. Woodford

George F. Surgent - Counselor at Law

Mr. and Mrs. William R. Wooton

Hamstead, Williams & Shook, PLLC

Mr. Michael B. Workman

Harrison County Bar Association

DHG Wealth Advisors LLC

Law Offices of Vanessa Lynn Rodriguez

Preston & Salango, PLLC

The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation The Veterans Consortium The West Virginia State Bar The WV Bar Foundation Thomas Combs & Spann PLLC Tiano O’Dell, PLLC Trump & Trump, LC West Virginia Planning Association West Virginia Bar Association William J. Moore Charitable Unitrust Windom Law Offices, PLLC Wirt C. & Mae S. Belcher Fund

LAW.WVU.EDU

Thank you, donors.

47

The Last Word with Jay Rockefeller

Played-out coal seams, a changing world that sees the value of reigning in our carbon footprint, and a reluctant financial market all paint a grim picture for Appalachian coal jobs.

Neither a court ruling nor change in administrations will bring back a roaring coal industry that employs the hundreds of thousands it once employed or fill state coffers with abundant coal revenues.

We must boldly face the reality of this transition. This is not a time to simply point fingers at government agencies or Wall Street.

Not a time to ridicule science. And most certainly, not a time to become paralyzed. Too much is at stake.

To truly understand the challenges that lay before us, we must commit to learning from the front-lines intelligence of those living the transition in our coal-impacted communities.

And we must think big ideas about how to protect our planet, our economy, and our people. Not just one of those. We can and must take care of all three.

Now is the time to turn the page and collectively write our next chapter. To take control of our future. To be resilient. To chart our path forward.

As we embark on that effort, we must do so with a keen eye for what is a real solution as well as a politically and financially achievable goal.

A solution that just checks a box or platitudes that are little more than window dressing for a campaign or company slogan are not enough.

We can’t afford to wait another minute to really dig in, think deeply and with a persistent pursuit of answers, solutions, and bold new ideas.

SPRING 2017

— Former United State Senator (D-W.Va.) and West Virginia Governor John D. “Jay” Rockefeller speaking at the WVU College of Law on April 8, 2016.

48

Photo by M.G. Ellis

$310 PER TEAM OF FOUR includes fees, cart, refreshments, and awards luncheon For more information contact

PRINT ) K.O.

AQ

PLATE

SBA PRESIDENT, JACKSON BUTLER: jjbutler@mix.wvu.edu

NOT

LAKEVIEW GOLF RESORT AND SPA Saturday, April 1, 2017

DOES

Hosted by the West Virginia University College of Law Student Bar Association

( THIS

WVU LAW ALUMNI GOLF SCRAMBLE

PROCEEDS BENEFIT LEGAL AID OF WEST VIRGINIA

GIVING BACK. PRIVATE SUPPORT OF THE COLLEGE OF LAW IS

ESSENTIAL TO ENHANCE

THE QUALITY OF ITS PROGRAMS AN EASY WAY TO SUPPORT THE COLLEGE OF LAW IS WITH PLANNED GIVING

INCLUDE A GIFT PROVISION FOR THE COLLEGE IN YOUR WILL OR REVOCABLE TRUST NAME THE COLLEGE A BENEFICIARY OF YOUR LIFE INSURANCE OR RETIREMENT ASSET ACCOUNTS WHETHER YOU ARE

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WHEN THE FLOOD CAME THE UNIQUE ROLE OF THE LAND USE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW CLINIC BEFORE AND AFTER THE SUMMER 2016 DISASTER.

ALSO INSIDE: In Rainelle, West Virginia, after the flood: Katherine Garvey, director of the Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic; Priya Baskaran, director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Law Clinic; Allison Eckman, AmeriCorps VISTA Member with the land use clinic; and Dan Eades, Economic Development Specialist, WVU Extension Service.

LIBRARY TRANSFORMATION

Q&A ON THE LL.M. PROGRAMS

The astonishing improvements to the George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library.

A look at WVU Law’s online and traditional LL.M. programs.

J.R. CLIFFORD The civil rights pioneer’s legacy endures with a law scholarship.