MORGANTOWN,
WEST VIRGINIA — It’s a “Back to the 80s” theme for the annual Public Interest
Advocates (PIA) Dinner and Auction on March 22 at WVU Law.
The
public is invited to attend the event that is celebrating 30 years of PIA. The organization
helps fund positions for law students and graduates at legal aid organizations
across the Mountain State.
A
buffet dinner in the College of Law lobby starts at 5:30 p.m. Tickets for the
dinner can be purchased for $10 at the door. The auction starts at 6:30 p.m. in
the college’s event hall and admission is free.
Live
and silent auction items will be up for bid. Among them, a seven-night stay at
a condo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; overnight packages at the Bavarian Inn
in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and at Glade Spring in Daniels, West Virginia;
Morgantown dining packages; an authentic Persian rug; sports tickets and
memorabilia; and gift baskets. There will also be raffle items and door prizes.
The competition problem this year involves a liquefied natural gas facility, and
whether an analysis of the environmental impacts requires consideration of the
greenhouse gases that will be released when the natural gas is ultimately combusted
in its foreign destination.
“The problem also raises issues about the government’s responsibility under the public
trust doctrine to preserve access to certain public resources and to clean air
and water,” said James Van Nostrand, director of WVU’s
Center for Energy and Sustainable Development.
MORGANTOWN, WEST
VIRGINIA — 3L Ryan Wallace has
been named one of the top student leaders in the country by The National
Jurist.
In its spring
issue, the magazine named Wallace a finalist for Law Student of the Year. He is
among 20 student leaders from across the country recognized for significantly
contributing to their law school and community.
“I am humbled
and grateful to be recognized for doing something I love,” said Wallace. “My
dream is to become a lawyer who makes a difference in the world, helping
communities and people, and I am honored to be able to pursue that dream.”
A two-time
recipient of a Public Interest Advocates Summer Fellowship, Wallace has worked
for West Virginia Senior Legal Aid and the Land
Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic. As a student attorney in the
clinic, he provided pro bono assistance in West Virginia communities devastated
by floods.
The keynote and featured speakers will be live streamed.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The
West Virginia Law Review
is hosting a symposium on February 23-24 focusing on a wide range of legal
and public policy issues faced by Appalachia.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA —The American Bar Association (ABA) recently honored Major
General (ret.) Kenneth D. Gray with its 2018 Spirit of Excellence Award.
A 1969 graduate of WVU Law, Gray was the first African-American general in the history of the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.
The ABA presents the Spirit of Excellence Award to attorneys who display a strong
commitment to promoting racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession, both
in their workplace and at the national, state, or local level.
Gray received the award in a February 3 ceremony at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Vancouver, Canada.
CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA — Charles W. Pace, Jr. has been promoted to Member of Kay Casto & Chaney PLLC.
He is a 1999 graduate of WVU Law.
Pace practices in the firm’s commercial law group. He focuses on assisting clients with estate planning, trust and estate administration, wealth preservation strategies, special needs planning, elder law issues, and taxation.
A significant portion of Pace's practice is assisting clients with business entity formation, general business entity advice, and business transactions. His practice also extends into the areas of trust and estate litigation and commercial litigation.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The partners of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP
have elected Thomas M. Hancock to the partnership effective January 1, 2018. He is a 2007 graduate of WVU Law.
Hancock, who joined the firm in 2016, concentrates his practice in the area of complex litigation. His experience involves litigation of catastrophic workplace accidents; litigation of intricate federal regulatory schemes; litigation involving pulmonology; and a variety of business litigation on behalf of clients from diverse industries. He also handles administrative matters for his clients before various state and federal agencies. He is based in the Firm’s West Virginia office.
Hancock's practice includes both trial work and an active appellate practice. He has regularly practiced before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the United States Department of Labor, and all state and federal courts in West Virginia. He is also licensed before the Sixth and Third Circuits, where he handles appellate work only.
Established in 1897, Nelson Mullins has more than 575 attorneys and government
relations professionals with offices in 10 states and Washington, DC.
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — When a United Nations investigator recently visited West Virginia, he heard directly from
WVU Law representatives.
UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston traveled to Alabama, California, Georgia, Puerto
Rico and West Virginia in December. His mission was “to examine government efforts
to eradicate poverty in the country, and how they relate to U.S. obligations under
international human rights law.”
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA — The law firm Wilson, Frame & Metheney PLLC has made
a $100,000 gift to the
Innocence Project
at WVU Law.
The funds, paid over five years, will provide operational support for the West Virginia
Innocence Project, a law clinic that serves the wrongfully convicted free of charge
while providing work experience for student attorneys.
“We are happy to be able to support the Innocence Project’s work in West Virginia,”
said attorney Wes Metheney. “For our justice system to function smoothly, the wrongfully
convicted need a champion. In the Mountain State, that champion is the West Virginia
Innocence Project.”
Third-year law students and law faculty operate the West Virginia Innocence Project.
Directed by Professor
Valena Beety
, the law clinic is dedicated to serving incarcerated persons in state or federal
prison in West Virginia by providing free legal representation to individuals with
meritorious claims of innocence. The clinic also advocates for reforms designed
to avoid wrongful convictions, including improved eyewitness identification and
forensic analysis.
In 1997, Lavigne was convicted of one count each of sexual abuse in the first degree,
child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, and incest. The victim was his
five-year old daughter. For 20 years, she and her mother have maintained Lavigne's
innocence.
No physical DNA evidence was submitted at Lavigne's trial but witnesses testified
that his daughter said she was assaulted by her father. Lavigne argued that his
daughter said she was assaulted by a man who looked like her father.
In 2011, then Putnam County Circuit Judge O.C. Spaulding reversed Lavigne’s conviction
and ruled that he could be released from prison pending a new trial. The evidence
included an affidavit from his daughter stating that her father had not assaulted
her. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia overturned that decision,
re-instating Lavigne’s sentence and returning him to prison.
The West Virginia Innocence Project accepted Lavigne’s case in 2013 and filed
a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Southern District of West Virginia.
The decision on the habeas is stayed, which allows for ongoing DNA testing. The
national Innocence Project joined the case to co-represent Lavigne earlier this
year.
"We believe Joe's conviction of this crime against his daughter was a miscarriage
of justice," said
Valena Beety
, director of the West Virginia Innocence Project. "Thorough and modern DNA
testing can prove his innocence and overturn his conviction."
Lavigne’s daughter was not permitted to testify at his post-conviction hearing, but
she was able to speak before the West Virginia Parole Board at his hearing in September.
She told the board, “My father did not rape me. I hope that’s all that really needs
said.”
