The concentration in Labor and Employment Law aims to educate the next generation of lawyers in West Virginia and beyond who will work in and shape the fields of labor and employment law by providing an opportunity to learn the applicable laws and regulations in the area, consider policy issues through a written work, and obtain practical skills applicable in the area through an experiential learning requirement.
Course Requirements
In order to complete a concentration, a student must have (1) all required first year courses; (2) all mandatory core courses; and (3) seventeen (17) total credit hours from mandatory core courses, designated elective courses, and an experiential learning course (described below).
Required First-Year Courses
Do not count toward concentration credit.
- Contracts (Law 703)(4 credits)
- Torts (Law 709) (3 credits)
- Constitutional Law (Law 725) (4 credits)
- Legislation & Regulation (3 credits)
Mandatory Core Courses
Students must take all of the following courses for this Concentration:
- Employment Law (Law 741)
- Employment Discrimination Law (Law 763)
- Labor Law (Law 771)
Designated Elective Courses
Students may select from the following courses for Concentration credit:
- Advanced Labor Law (Law 632)
- International Human Rights (Law 701)
- Constitutional Law II (Law 725)
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (Law 750)
- Administrative Law (Law 764)
- Seminar: Law/Socioeconomics (Law 689S)
- Seminar: Comparative/Int’l Workplace Law (Law 689T)
- Entertainment Law (Law 720)
- Sports Law (Law 721)
- Immigration Law (Law 723)
- Workers Compensation Law (Law 760)
- Coal Mine Safety (Law 793X)
- ERISA (Law xxx)
Additional courses may be added to the list of designated electives with the consent of the Concentration Administrator. Given the many types of practice settings for labor and employment lawyers, students may wish to discuss with the Concentration Administrator the possibility that courses in legislation, intellectual property, business, or negotiation might be approved as designated electives on a case by case basis. Courses not listed above will be treated as designated electives only with advance consent in writing from the Concentration Administrator.
Writing
Students must produce a written paper or court document of no less than 25 pages on a topic related to labor law, employment law, employment discrimination law, benefits law, and/or comparative/international work law. A student may fulfill this requirement through any of the following methods:
- Qualifying paper in any Designated Elective Course
- Independent Study approved per WVU College of Law Handbook and overseen by a Concentration Faculty member
- Law Review Note, with approval of the Concentration Administrator and with a faculty member as advisor
- A Court Document, e.g. Amicus, Brief or Memorandum of Law (real or moot) with the approval of the Concentration Administrator and with a faculty member as advisor. For example, a student may fulfill this requirement by participating in New York Law School’s Wagner Moot Court Competition as part of the Moot Court Team.
The writing requirement requires input and approval from a faculty member and the Concentration Administrator, even if the writing was completed outside a formal class or independent study arrangement. A student may fulfill the writing requirement through an alternative method with the consent of the Concentration Administrator.
Experiential Learning
Students must meet the following experiential learning requirement of no less than 3 credits (no more than 5 credits from participation in a clinic count toward the 17 credit requirement.) A student may fulfill this requirement through any of the following methods:
- Externship in a labor/employment practice setting approved by the Concentration Administrator and complying with the general rules and policies governing externships
- Entrepreneurship Clinic (Law 650)
- Immigration Clinic (Law 724)
- Other clinic or simulation course, with approval of the Concentration Administrator
Concentration students in the Entrepreneurship and Immigration Clinics shall make every effort to work on labor and employment matters within these clinical placements.
A student may fulfill the experiential learning requirement through an alternative method with the consent of the Concentration Administrator.
Other Requirements
Students must also meet the following requirements:
- Ten hours of related extracurricular or co-curricular activities, such as active participation in the Labor Law Society or ADR Society, attending relevant meetings, hearings or speakers, administrative or other active participation in the work-law related events (e.g., moot court, symposia).
