Clinical Law Program
The Clinical Law Program serves the public and offers well-qualified third-year law students the opportunity to represent clients under faculty supervision. The objective of the clinic is to expose students to all phases of lawyering, client interviewing, and counseling; advocacy in trial courts, before administrative tribunals and in appellate contexts; drafting of briefs and pleadings; negotiating; and other lawyering skills. Heavy emphasis is placed on the development of the professional lawyer role with particular attention to the Rules of Professional Responsibility. WVU Law’s Clinical Law Program marked its 35th year in the Fall of 2011.
Child & Family Law Clinic
Working with West Virginia children and families of limited income to promote their health, security, and future success the Child and Family Law Clinic at the WVU College of Law can assist children and families with limited income who need free legal assistance in civil matters.
A Medical-Legal Partnership is also offered by the Child & Family Law Clinic. This partnership was conceived in cooperation with the West Virginia University Children’s Hospital providing faculty-directed law students who will participate in the resident continuity clinics. During medical visits, parents will fill out a questionnaire to help clinicians identify potential legal issues, such as lack of health insurance, inadequate housing, unemployment, child custody, etc. If a legal problem is identified, the families will be given the opportunity to consult with the law students and faculty associated with the legal clinic and be represented without charge.
General Civil Practice
The General Civil Practice component of the program provides civil legal services to qualified clients. Our primary areas of concentration are family law (including violence protection, custody, support, divorce and adoption), social security and other public benefits, property issues, and consumer debt relief. We do take cases in other areas if they present good learning opportunities for our students. We appear in state and federal courts throughout the northern portion of West Virginia.
To be eligible for our services, clients must have incomes at or below the federal poverty guidelines. Click here to see the current guidelines.
Low Income Taxpayer Clinic
The Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) provides information, advice, and representation on federal individual tax matters to low-income individuals. Unless closely tied to a controversy, the Tax Clinic does not assist in the preparation of current income tax returns. The LITC serves clients throughout the State of West Virginia before the Internal Revenue Service and the West Virginia Tax Department. Students appear in the Tax Court sitting both in Charleston, WV and Pittsburgh, PA.
Veterans Assistance Project
The Veterans Assistance Project provides civil legal services to qualified veterans in family law (including violence protection, custody, support, divorce and adoption), social security and other public benefits, property issues, and consumer debt relief.
People seeking assistance from the above clinical programs can contact us at (304) 293-7249 or email cliniclaw@mail.wvu.edu to request an application. Please note: as we are at the end of the current academic year, we will not be accepting new applications until August 1, 2013.
You may also write to us at:
The Clinical Law Program
West Virginia University College of Law
P.O. Box 6130
Morgantown, WV 26506
Information for assistance from the following clinical programs can be found on their respective information pages in this site.
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic
The West Virginia University College of Law’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic offers start-up companies, small businesses, non-profits, and individuals legal services in areas of counseling for a product plan or business organization; licensing; employee and contractor agreements; intellectual property; financing and venture capital; planning and negotiation; dispute resolution; and generalized assistance in business formation, planning, and strategy.
Immigration Law Clinic
The West Virginia University College of Law Immigration Law Clinic has served scores of clients throughout the West Virginia and western Pennsylvania region since 1996 when it began as the WVU Immigration Law. The clinic serves foreign citizens who are facing deportation, asylum, and other immigration proceedings.
The Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic
The Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic (LUSD Clinic) provides legal services to local governments, landowners and non-profit organizations to develop land conservation strategies and practices.
United States Supreme Court Law Clinic
Students in the Supreme Court Clinic at WVU Law research and draft briefs for clients pro bono, working primarily on criminal, immigration, prisoner, and civil liberties appeals.
WVU Law established its United States Supreme Court Law Clinic in spring 2012. It is one of just a handful of SCOTUS law clinics in the nation.
West Virginia Innocence Project
The West Virginia Innocence Project at West Virginia University brings together the university’s law school and forensics program to help exonerate prisoners who were wrongly convicted in West Virginia.
The West Virginia Innocence Project serves those who were wrongly convicted in either state or federal court in West Virginia. It does not charge for its services. This Project serves only those prisoners who maintain that they are actually innocent of the crimes for which they are convicted. The Project takes only those cases where DNA or other forensic evidence can prove innocence. To request help from the Innocence Project at West Virginia University, prisoners must complete the Application for Assistance.
Download Application for Assistance .