News

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Appalachian communities have long struggled with access to care, hospital closures, gaps in insurance coverage and higher prevalence rates of chronic disease — and the global pandemic has only created more challenges.

On February 24 and 25, the West Virginia Law Review is hosting a symposium to explore these topics at the intersection of law and health, seeking to understand their impact on rural Appalachia.

Health in the Hills: Understanding the Impact of Health Care Law in Rural Communities is being held in-person at the West Virginia University College of Law and streamed on YouTube.

Health care law experts from across the country will address a wide range of topics, including how finances affect medicine in rural communities, how technology can improve medicine in rural communities, how international factors can affect rural medicine, and how practices in rural medicine specifically impact Appalachia.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Several West Virginia University College of Law students recently spent a week in Wisconsin helping Afghans resettle in the United States.

Third-year students Tori Bruno, Aliah Hasan, Lauren Knowlden, Matt Regan and Natalia Watkins are members of the WVU Immigration Law Clinic. They worked at a U.S. government facility in January, assisting hundreds of Afghans who had fled their country following the fall of Kabul last year.

Immigration Law Clinic co-directors Professor  Alison Peck and Robert Whitehill, a Pittsburgh-based immigration attorney, accompanied the students on the trip.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A cross-campus collaboration at  West Virginia University will help the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service research and review its Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, which has safeguarded millions of acres of productive farm and ranchland into perpetuity.

The NRCS has awarded a $3.4 million grant to the  Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic at the WVU  College of Law, which will partner with the  Energy Land Management program in the  Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design on the project.

“A grant of this magnitude and scope takes WVU Law’s national service to a new level,” said  Amelia Rinehart, dean of the College of Law. “The project ultimately benefits the American people and it provides our students with invaluable work experience in land use law.”

Darrell Donahue, dean of the Davis College, agreed.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Professor Marjorie McDiarmid of the West Virginia University College of Law has received a lifetime achievement award from the Association of American Law Schools.

McDiarmid, the Steptoe & Johnson Professor of Law and Technology, was recognized for her work in pro bono and public service law. 

For 35 years, McDiarmid directed and helped expand the clinical law program at WVU until stepping down in 2021. She continues to teach the law, including evidence and civil procedure courses.

“Over the course of her career and continuing today, Professor McDiarmid changed the landscape of clinical legal education and has trained hundreds of lawyers to carry those same values of service and leadership to their communities,” said Amelia Rinehart, dean of the College of Law. “She pioneered using technology to break down barriers to legal services, and she committed herself and our college to improving the lives of multiple generations of West Virginians with her vision to provide free legal assistance throughout the state. We cannot measure the impact she has had on the state of West Virginia and on the legal profession.”

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Michael Johnson, a 2003 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, is the new chief legal strategist for GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders.

Known as GLAD, the Boston-based organization uses strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education to fight discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status and sexual orientation. 

“For more than four decades, GLAD’s cutting-edge legal work has driven monumental advancements in LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections, transgender rights, family equality, the rights of people living with HIV, and more across New England and nationally,” Johnson said. “But even as we gain increased legal protections, our efforts are constantly being challenged.”

Johnson joins GLAD after nearly 20 years in leadership roles at Western New England University School of Law, where he most recently served as associate dean for student affairs and enrollment planning. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three students at the West Virginia University College of Law recently participated in a national conference for defense attorneys. 

Second-year law students Alley Jordan, Mattie Shuler and Shelby Turley traveled to Boston for the annual meeting of DRI, where they networked with attorneys while learning about legal defense practice through presentations and workshops.

DRI, founded in 1960, is an organization of defense attorneys and in-house counsel that aims to build connections, educate members and improve the justice system. 

"There were a lot of changes of views that people held about their career and it was really interesting to hear all of those different perspectives," Jordan said.

WASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden has announced his nomination of Christopher J. Williamson for Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Williamson is a 2010 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law.

From the White House news release:

A proud Appalachian and native of the coalfields of southern West Virginia, Williamson currently serves as Senior Counsel to Chairman Lauren McFerran of the National Labor Relations Board. Prior to joining the NLRB, he served in the Obama-Biden Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor as a member of the senior leadership team at the Mine Safety and Health Administration. In that role, he advised the Assistant Secretary for MSHA on all aspects of agency policy, operations, and communications. 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Professor Jesse Richardson of the West Virginia University College of Law has been named co-editor of Water Law Newsletter.

The newsletter is a national publication of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and provides information and updates on federal and state water law developments. 

As co-editor the Water Law Newsletter, Richardson will help expand the publication's coverage of laws in the eastern United States. He already serves as the newsletter’s reporter for Virginia and West Virginia.

In addition to teaching, Richardson  is the lead land use attorney in WVU’s Land Use and Sustainable Development Law Clinic. His areas of expertise are agricultural law, land use law and water law. 

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three students at the West Virginia University College of Law are learning firsthand how to provide quality legal representation for children in abuse and neglect cases.

Rachael Mullins, Carrie Miller and Christian LaParne are participating in a new externship program through the West Virginia Court Improvement Program Board. The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has designated the CIP with improving the state’s foster care and judicial processes.

The students, all 2Ls, are conducting 100 hours of fieldwork in addition to their semester-long externship course. They attend hearings and multi-disciplinary team meetings, tour group homes and juvenile centers, make home visits, conduct legal research and prepare legal documents.

Mullins, Miller and LaParne are supervised by attorneys from Lyons Phillips Legal Group, PLLC, and Jessica Haught, director of the Fitzsimmons Center for Litigation and Advocacy at WVU Law.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Graduate student Hannah Jack is making her mark as the first social work intern in the law clinics at the West Virginia University College of Law.

While earning her Master of Social Work from the WVU School of Social Work, Jack is helping the law clinics serve clients holistically, including connecting them to resources to improve their quality of life. She also consults with law students working in the clinics on topics such as communication and stressors in their relationships with clients.

“I hope to pave the way for this kind of partnership to continue in the future and to demonstrate the role a social worker can play in helping the law clinics provide legal resources,” Jack said. “This role holds opportunities to collaborate with a variety of people: lawyers, clients and even other social workers.”

Jack is supervised by Nicole McConlogue, associate professor of law and clinic director. She sees the potential for social work graduate students to enhance the legal representation the clinics already provide.