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Four WVU Law Grads Elected New Members at Jackson Kelly

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Jackson Kelly PLLC recently promoted WVU College of Law graduates Christina T. Brumley, Alaina N. Crislip, Seth P. Hayes, and Kevin R. Waldo to membership status effective Jan. 1, 2014.

Brumley’s practice focuses on acquisitions and divestitures, commercial transactions, and mineral and property rights issues. Her experience includes commercial litigation, including contract and property rights disputes, business torts and shareholder litigation. Brumley has also advised clients on communications law, representing broadcasters in matters before the FCC and advising them in defamation and advertising law. She received her B.S. in business administration from WVU’s College of Business and Economics in 1993 _summa cum laude _and her JD from the WVU College of Law in 1998.

Crislip represents a variety of health care provider organizations, including hospitals and physicians. She routinely advises clients in matters involving health care regulations and litigation, with an emphasis on compliance advice to providers under HIPAA, Stark, Anti Kickback, and other state and federal laws. Crislip earned her JD from the WVU College of Law in 2003.

Hayes practices in Jackson Kelly’s Industrial, Environmental and Complex Litigation Practice Group in the Morgantown, W.Va., office. Prior to starting at Jackson Kelly, Hayes clerked for the Honorable David A. Faber of the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia. He earned his JD (Order of the Coif) from the WVU College of Law in 2006. He also hold a B.S. in finance and a B.A. in foreign languages from WVU.

Lauderman: To be the Changes She Wants to See In the World

While slogging through Freudian concepts and Pavlov’s classical conditioning techniques in pursuit of her psychology degree, Alicia Lauderman’s career goals swiftly deviated off course.


That course took her from her undergraduate degree to the West Virginia University College of Law, from which she graduated on December 20 to begin a career designed to helping children.

A mother of two, Lauderman always had a tender spot in her heart for children. One Sunday morning’s paper acted as a catalyst and took her studies from childhood psychology to enacting laws regarding children.

Oluyemi, Robinson Awarded Public Interest Fellowships

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.— Omolola “Lola” Oluyemi and Paul Robinson, 3L students at the West Virginia University College of Law, have been awarded post-graduate fellowships from the West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest.

The fellowships will allow Oluyemi and Robinson to practice law at a West Virginia public interest organization for one year beginning in fall of 2014.

“This is exceptional opportunity for new lawyers to do meaningful and gratifying work,” said Jennifer Powell, director of WVU Law’s Center for Law and Public Service.

There are two main purposes of the West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest program, according to Powell.

McGinley : U.S. Supreme Court Unlikely to Take Mingo Logan Coal Case

UPDATE – 3/24/14: U.S. Supreme Court rejects Mingo Logan Coal Company v. Environmental Protection Agency

The permit was initially granted in 2007 by the Army Corps of Engineers for the mountain top removal mine that would discharge fill into two nearby streams. Three years later, the EPA withdrew the use of the two streams as disposal sites.

Mingo Logan Coal says the D.C. Circuit ruling gives too much authority to the EPA and jeopardizes any project across the county that requires a Clean Water Act permit. Those projects represent an annual investment of $220 billion, according to the petitioners.

However, McGinley told Law360 that a single enforcement action over the four decades since the Clean Water Act was passed won’t do much to unsettle the markets and will not draw the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court.

WVU Law Ranks Top 25 for Alumni in Corporate Leadership

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University College of Law ranks 16th in the nation for the most alumni leading publicly traded companies, according to new research. The findings come from Robert Anderson, associate professor of law at Pepperdine University.

Using data from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Anderson recently determined the top 25 law schools with the highest percentage of alumni serving as corporate directors or executive officers. He writes about his research in his blog, Witnesseth: Law, Deals, & Data.

While Anderson’s rankings closely match the standard law school hierarchy, he told The National Law Journal that “a handful of law schools performed better on the corporate boardroom analysis than their U.S. News & World Report rankings would indicate.” WVU Law’s No. 16 on the corporate leadership list is higher than its No. 91 U.S. News Best Law Schools ranking.

In his blog, Anderson writes “West Virginia manages to break into the top 25, largely because of its small size and critical mass of graduates in public company positions.”

WVU Law Professor Says West Virginia Can Learn from Denmark and South Korea

In planning for its future, West Virginia should take a closer look at smaller countries like Denmark or South Korea, according to Gregory Bowman, WVU Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

Bowman has spent a lot of time in South Korea as head of a legal study abroad program there, and he lived in Denmark as an exchange student.

“Both places offer interesting perspectives on West Virginia,” he suggested at Creative WV.

Both countries emphasize a quality education, which results in highly educated workforces that support high tech industries, solid growth, and an overall high quality of life, Bowman pointed out.

WVU Law Big XII Fellow Researches TX and WV Criminal Justice Systems

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University College of Law Professor Valena Beety recently spent two weeks in residence at the University of Texas School of Law as part of the Big XII Faculty Fellowship Program. 

She was one of just six WVU faculty who were selected to participate in the program this year.

The Big XII Faculty Fellowship Program was created to stimulate scholarly initiatives through creation of an academic community within the institutions in the Big XII Athletic Conference.

As a Big XII Fellow, Beety researched the growing roles of clemency and forensic science in the Texas and West Virginia state criminal justice systems. Her research included a focus on executive and judicial clemency and forensic findings in capital punishment cases. Texas has executed more inmates than any other state. There is no death penalty in West Virginia.

WVU Law Appoints First Energy Fellow

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.—The Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at the West Virginia UniversityCollege of Law has named Beren Argetsinger its first Fellow in Energy and Environmental Law and Policy. The fellowship is a one-year appointment through the summer of 2014.

Argetsinger is a 2013 graduate of Pace University School of Law and he holds a master’s degree in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. His experience includes internships at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Enforcement and with the litigation team at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York.

Argetsinger’s recent scholarship has focused on regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants under the Clean Air Act. It’s a priority issue for the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development over the next few months. He has also written in the areas of shale gas development, interest electric transmission facilities, and integration of renewable energy resources.

As the Fellow for Energy and Environmental Law and Policy, Argetsinger will support the research and scholarship of the center’s affiliated faculty, law professors Patrick McGinleyJoshua Fershee, and Alison Peck.

He will assist with the Center’s two major events: the 4th Annual National Energy and Sustainability Moot Court Competition, March 27-29, 2014; and the annual Energy and Sustainability Conference, February 24, 2014.

Argetsinger will also maintain and contribute to the center’s blog, Energy Forward, and help prepare for the College of Law’s new LL.M.in Energy and Sustainable Development Law. Pending approval by the American Bar Association, the LL.M. will be offered in fall 2014.

“We are very pleased to have Beren join us,” said James Van Nostrand, associate professor of law and director of the center. “The field of candidates included graduates from some of the leading law schools in the country. Beren has the impressive academic credentials and experience that will be an asset to the work of the energy center.”

The Center for Energy and Sustainable Development was established at WVU in 2011 to conduct objective, unbiased research and policy analyses; provide a forum for issues to be explored by stakeholders; and to promote policies that strike a balance between the development of energy resources and the protection of the valuable air and water supplies upon which future generations will depend.

-WVU-

Exhibit honors WVU Law Canine Mascot

Class photos from the past 135 years line the halls of the West Virginia University College of Law, showcasing a long and distinguished history of legal education. Within some of the oldest photos, there is one recurring character: Bob, identified as the “College of Law Mascot.” He was a medium-sized canine with floppy ears and black and tan markings.

The College of Law is honoring Bob by hosting “Bob’s World,” an exhibit about the law school’s former mascot, in the George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library, now through Feb. 20, 2014. Admission is free, and the public is invited to attend. 

Bob was a beloved pet and companion of Professor William P. Willey, one of WVU’s first law professors and founder of the West Virginia Law Review (1894). Embraced by faculty, staff and students, Bob was considered the WVU College of Law’s unofficial mascot from 1907 to 1910. Law students at the time described Bob as a “gentlemanly” dog. He passed away in 1910, allegedly poisoned, and no dog has since filled the role of the law school mascot.

The exhibit showcases photos of Bob and his owner, as well as published stories about the dog and the students who loved him. It is curated by , the Special Collections Librarian at the George R. Farmer, Jr. Law Library. 

-WVU-

kb/10/15/13

WVU Law Professors to Present at Journalism Seminar

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Law professors Patrick McGinley and Robert Bastress are presenting workshops at News Law Training, a seminar sponsored by the WVU College of Law, the WVU Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism and the West Virginia Press Association, on Wednesday, October 23, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Martin Hall.

The seminar will cover avoiding and handling subpoenas; legal issues for online and social media; privacy considerations for the media; the Freedom of Information Act and other laws to access government; and defamation law, avoiding lawsuits and handling complaints.

The cost for the seminar is $10 for West Virginia Press Association members and WVU students; $15 for the general public. Lunch and continental breakfast are included. To register, visithttp://wvpress.org/newslaw/

McGinley is the Judge Charles H. Haden II Professor of Law. He is the co-author of the “Open Government Guide: Access to Public Records and Meetings in West Virginia,” published by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. McGinley has served as a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists’ First Amendment Task Force, has taught courses in public access to government information and has litigated West Virginia FOIA cases on behalf of West Virginia newspapers and the Associated Press. He joined the WVU Law faculty in 1975.

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