News

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – Robert Post, dean of Yale Law School, will deliver the annual C. Edwin Baker Lecture for Liberty, Equality, and Democracy on Friday, November 14, at 12:00 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at the West Virginia UniversityCollege of Law. 

Admission is free and the public is invited to attend. A reception in the College of Law lobby will follow the lecture.

For his lecture, Post will address the constitutionality of compelled commercial speech. Recent cases of compelled commercial speech include government mandates for country-of-origin labeling on meat products and graphic warnings on tobacco products.

In addition to serving as dean, Post is the Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale, where he teaches on constitutional law, the First Amendment, legal history, and equal protection. He has written and edited several books and his work is regularly published in a variety of legal journals. Post’s paper on compelled commercial speech will be published in the West Virginia Law Review in 2015.

The Baker Lecture at WVU Law is presented annually in honor of C. Edwin Baker, a leading constitutional law scholar who died in 2009. He was the Nicholas F. Gallicchio Professor of Law and Communication at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

In 2011, Baker’s family donated his papers to the West Virginia University College of Law. Housed in the George R. Famer, Jr. Law Library, the C. Edwin Baker Collection is a window into the life and work of one of the 20th century’s foremost experts on constitutional law, free speech, and communication law.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The  West Virginia University College of Law is hosting a free seminar for inventors, entrepreneurs, business owners, and lawyers on Thursday, November 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom. Lunch will be provided.

Organized by the WVU  Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic (EILC), the seminar will focus on intellectual property (IP) law. Panel discussions will include IP attorneys Dusty Gwinn of Handheld Hospitality LLC, Monika Hussell of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP, and Michael Smith of Birch, Stewart, Kolasch & Birch LLP.

The lunch keynote address will be delivered by Craig Morris, managing attorney for Trademark Outreach with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He will speak on “Trademark Basics: What Every Small Business Should Know Now, Not Later.”

“This seminar will instruct the inventor, entrepreneur and business owner, and their consultants and lawyers in how to assess and protect IP, so that the company may successfully commercialize in today’s marketplace,” said Nancy Trudel, EILC interim director. “It also will provide attendees with information on the private and public resources available in West Virginia that may assist with IP protection and business development.”

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The West Virginia University College of Law is hosting an admissions event for prospective minority and non-traditional students from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 8.

Registration for Bridging the Gap is free and includes lunch. It is open to aspiring law students and offers opportunities to meet with current law students and faculty. The program will focus on the law school application process, academic offerings, student life, and financial aid. Participants will also experience a simulation of a first-year law class.

For more information or to register for Bridging the Gap, visit http://law.wvu.edu/bridging-the-gap or contact WVU Law Admissions at (304) 293-5304 or wvulaw.admissions@mail.wvu.edu. The deadline to register is October 31.

WVU College of Law is ranked #83 among the best law schools in the country by U.S. News & World Report. With a focus on justice, ethics, and professionalism, WVU Law focuses on the development of practice-ready skills through experiences in and out of the classroom. The employment rate forWVU Law graduates is higher than the national average.

MORGANTON, WEST VIRGINIA— Top labor scholars and leaders are meeting at the West Virginia University College of Law on Friday, October 24, for a conference focused on ensuring a healthy and productive environment for workers in the United States.

Titled Zealous Advocacy for Social Change, the labor law conference is open to the public from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 4:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. at the College of Law. Admission is free.

In the morning session in Lugar Courtroom, panelists will discuss the legal setting for the current anti-union environment, including labor’s assembly rights, and trends and updates.

Presenters include Lynn Rhinehart, general counsel of the AFL-CIO; Nicole Berner, deputy general counsel for the Service Employees International Union; Christopher Williamson, labor counsel for U.S. Senate H.E.L.P. Committee, and Marion Crain, vice provost at Washington University in St. Louis.