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Morgantown, W.Va. – The West Virginia University College of Law conferred degrees on 119 graduates at its Hooding and Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 18, in the WVU Creative Arts Center. The keynote address was delivered by Robert Bastress, who was voted Professor of the Year by the Class of 2013. Lawyers Susan Brewer and Lloyd Jackson II were honored for their outstanding service to the legal profession. >>>VIDEO

In a speech that included references to the late Robert F. Kennedy and John Rosenberg, founder of the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky, Bastress urged the Class of 2013 to find ways to nurture their compassion while thriving as lawyers.

“It’s okay to care,” he told the graduates. “Law is a helping profession. We don’t all have the wherewithal of a Kennedy or the chance to lead movements, but we do get to serve and to demonstrate that we care – whether we are serving a client, the public, a constituency, an ideal, or some other noble purpose.”

West Virginia University College of Law students David Estep and Ashley Joseph recently attended the national Innocence Network Conference in Charlotte, NC.

The conference gave the two 3L students the opportunity to meet exonerees and share strategies and gain advice from attorneys practicing in the field.

Estep and Joseph have been working in the West Virginia Innocence Project (WVIP) law clinic this year. They were joined at the conference by law professor and WVIP director Valena Beety and Kristen McKeon, WVIP legal fellow. The trip was funded by a generous donation to the law clinic.

“We worked on cases all year, so it was amazing to actually meet men and women who have been exonerated and are now free,” said Joseph. “That’s what we’re working toward.”