News

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.—The West Virginia Innocence Project law clinic has received an award from the state’s public defenders.

West Virginia Public Defender Services recently presented WVIP with the John A. “Jack” Rogers Award for Outstanding Leadership in Public Service for its work on behalf of the state’s wrongfully convicted.

WVIP is a law clinic at the West Virginia University College of Law. Third-year law students in the clinic investigate and litigate cases where criminal defendants have been wrongfully convicted, and move to vacate sentences based on newly discovered evidence, actual innocence, or other constitutional claims.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.—This summer, 25 WVU Law students are practicing public interest law across West Virginia.

As Public Interest Advocates Summer Fellows, these students are working in full-time, paid positions for 10 weeks serving the poor, the elderly, children, and victims of domestic violence, among others. They are gaining valuable experience in children’s advocacy, civil rights, consumer law, disability rights, and land use and conservation law.

PIA is a WVU Law student group that raises money to support the nonprofit West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest. Each year, the WVFLIPI sponsors paid summer fellowships that make it possible for WVU Law students to work for public interest law organizations throughout the state.

“PIA fellowships benefit the organizations who host our fellows and the clients they serve,” said Jennifer Powell, PIA advisor and executive director of WVFLIPI. “Fellows help give access to justice to so many West Virginians who could not otherwise afford a lawyer. Fellowships supported by PIA and the Fund have also helped launch hundreds of law students’ careers and inspired many to work in public interest law and provide pro bono legal services once they become lawyers.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.—WVU Law professor  Jena Martin is exploring consumer rights issues with the goal of creating best-practice guidelines for policymakers.

Martin is the inaugural recipient of the Ralph C. Young Fellowship awarded by the Center for Consumer Law and Education, a joint program between WVU College of Law and Marshall University.

“The fellowship is giving me the opportunity to engage with regional, national and international audiences on issues of data privacy and access to justice,” said Martin

Martin’s consumer protection research is long-term. In the coming year, she will survey and interview victims of misused data, specifically asking them what satisfactory outcomes they would seek as a result of data-privacy violations.