News

Thanks to the West Virginia State Bar, students at West Virginia University College of Law have the opportunity to receive financial support to work at a summer job and gain additional experience in an area of law they are passionate about.

Parker Stout, a 2L from Webster Springs, WV, is interning close to home and clerking for Honorable Judge Jack Alsop of the 14th Judicial Circuit.

Stout said that this scholarship has provided him with the “opportunity to come home to learn and solidified that I want to practice here after school.”

West Virginia University College of Law Associate Professor Cody Corliss, an expert on international criminal law, recently offered his expertise at the Tenth International Legal Ethics Conference (ILEC), held July 17-19, 2024 at the University of Amsterdam’s Law School, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. 

Corliss presented his research on Friday, July 19, as part of a panel focused on ethics and government lawyers, speaking alongside legal experts from Botswana and Kenya.

His individual presentation focused on the qualifications and role of the United States special counsel, a position designed to operate when the United States Department of Justice has a conflict of interest that precludes its investigation. Notable recent special counsel investigations include the federal prosecutions of Hunter Biden and former President Donald Trump. 

Specifically, Corliss advocated for increased attention to the specific qualifications that complement the special counsel role, arguing that a prosecutor with international criminal justice experience is best positioned to serve as special counsel, particularly in situations where the rule of law is under stress. His research forms the basis of a forthcoming article in the Utah Law Review.

Partners supporting the Mon Forest Towns initiative have been awarded $150,000 to support land use planning in the Mon Forest. 

The program is a collaboration among the WVU College of Law Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic, Downstream Strategies and the Mon Forest Town Partnership, with the support of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.