News

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — Marjorie McDiarmid, Steptoe & Johnson Professor of Law & Technology, is the recipient of the state’s 2016 Distinguished Pro Bono Service Award.

The West Virginia State Bar and Legal Aid of West Virginia present the award annually to an attorney or law firm whose efforts go above and beyond the call of duty.

McDiarmid was recognized for her many years of pro bono work and support for legal service organizations in West Virginia. She received the award recently at the annual meeting of the West Virginia State Bar in Charleston.

“Not only is Professor McDiarmid a respected professor at the West Virginia University College of Law, she is also generous in donating her time to help Legal Aid of West Virginia as an organization, and to serving our clients as a pro bono attorney,” said Gretchen Lewis of Legal Aid of West Virginia.

WVU Law professor Joshua Weishart is among six WVU faculty members selected for the 2017 Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching, which honors exceptional professors who go above and beyond to inspire their students.

Weishart uses a variety of techniques to engage his students in what he calls “the common enterprise of learning,” challenging them to build for themselves the connections between abstract legal rules and real world application.

A proud WVU alum and its 14th Truman scholar, Weishart holds dual appointment in the  Rockefeller School of Policy and Politics and the WVU College of Law, where the Class of 2016 elected him Professor of the Year and invited him to deliver their Commencement address.

Established in 1985 by the  WVU Foundation, the Outstanding Teaching award honors faculty who are particularly effective, inspiring teachers or who have established patterns of exceptional innovation in teaching methods, course and curriculum design and instructional tools.

MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA – Rebecca Trump, a second-year student at WVU Law, has been chosen by her peers to serve as editor-in-chief of Volume 120 of the West Virginia Law Review.

The West Virginia Law Review a professional legal journal that publishes articles of interest to legal scholars, students, legislators and lawyers. Founded in 1894, it is the fourth oldest student-governed law review in the country. 

As editor-in-chief, Trump will lead a team to review articles and publish three issues of the law review during the 2017-18 academic year. She will also play a lead role in organizing a symposium and overseeing the law review’s website and online edition.

 “The West Virginia Law Review is a part of the law school that goes back more than a hundred years, and I’m honored that my classmates trust me to steer the ship for this volume,” said Trump, who is currently an associate editor for Volume 119.  “The law review is special because it’s student-run. Our professors are advisors, but when it comes down to it, the decision is ours as to the direction we want to take content.”

Megan Carpenter, a 1999 graduate of WVU Law, will take over leadership of the University of New Hampshire School of Law effective July 1, 2017.

A nationally known expert in intellectual property with a focus in entrepreneurship and the arts, Carpenter is founder and co-director of the Center for Law and Intellectual Property at Texas A&M University School of Law.

She will be the first woman to lead the UNH law school since its founding in 1973.

Carpenter is chair of the academic committee of the International Trademark Association, the preeminent organization of trademark professionals. Prior to working in higher education, she practiced law at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart (now K&L Gates) where she represented technology, multimedia, and sports and entertainment clients.