Dean's Column

Spring Time In Appalachia

Spring is a wonderful time of year in Appalachia. The cold, short days of winter give way to the refreshingly mild days of spring and the ever-increasing hours of sunlight. Spring flowers start to bloom and dogwood and the redbud add welcome splashes of color to the countryside which is awakening from the winter months. Color starts to return to our lawns and hillsides, and the leaves which are transformed into brilliant colors in the fall are just starting to emerge.

Activities at the law school tend to mirror nature. We try not to schedule many activities in January and February because of concerns with the weather during the winter months. However, in March we begin a number of law school related activities which ultimately culminate with commencement weekend.

This year our "winter months" were brightened by a visit from Professor David Vernon, the Allan D. Vestal Professor of Law at the University of Iowa. Professor Vernon visited with us during the week of February 14 as the William J. Maier, Jr. Visiting Scholar. Professor Vernon has been one of the leaders in legal education for many years and during that period of time served as the dean of the University of Iowa College of Law, the President of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), and the AALS Representative to the American Bar Association House of Delegates. He is the author of national casebooks in Contracts and Conflicts, and has visited at a number of schools, both in this country and abroad. During his visit with us he taught the first year Contracts courses, lead a faculty discussion as part of our self-study activities, and discussed with the faculty professorial ethics. In addition, he delivered to the University community a lecture entitled "Is It Possible to Maintain a Free Marketplace of Ideas at American Universities?" During the week, he was available for members of the faculty to discuss issues or matters of interest to them, and on several occasions had lengthy discussions with me which I found extremely helpful as it relates to my decanal responsibilities. His visit provided us much "food for thought" as we pursue our goal of becoming one of the best state supported law schools in this country.

On March 2 and 3, the West Virginia Law Review and the Women’s Law Caucus hosted a symposium on Family Law in the Year 2000. The symposium, which included the Edward G. Donley Memorial Lecture by Professor Sally Goldfarb of Rutgers University, brought to campus a number of leading experts in the area of family law to join with members of our own faculty to present a symposium that included panel discussions on domestic violence, marriage, the Troxel v. Granville decision, and adoption. Professor Goldfarb presented the Donley Lecture on "Domestic Violence: What Role for Federal Law?" In addition to the Donley Memorial Lecture fund, financial support for the symposium was also provided by the Ralph J. Bean Law Review Endowment. My sincere thanks to Professor Lisa Kelly and the many students who worked to make this symposium a major success and a national event.

In addition, members of our Moot Court Board have been actively involved in Moot Court competitions throughout the region. This semester student teams assisted by their volunteer coaches prepared for competition and traveled to a variety of sites. The National Moot Court team participated in a competition in Richmond, Virginia and was coached by Gordon Copland, Jacquelyn Jordon, and Larry Rector of Steptoe & Johnson; a team coached by Kelly Reed and Paul Farrell of Wilson, Frame, Benninger & Metheny, and Traci Cook, a public defender, competed at Tulane Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana; a team coached by Bill Mattingly, Charles Crooks, and Julia Chico of Jackson & Kelly competed at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a team coached by Professors Jim McLaughlin and Gerry Ashdown competed in the Federal Bar Association competition in Washington, DC; and other teams traveled to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee to participate in competitions.

On Monday, March 6, Ms. Marina Park presented the Charles L. Ihlenfeld Lecture. Ms. Park is the firmwide managing partner of Pillsbury Madison & Suttro, one of San Francisco’s oldest and most prestigious law firms. Prior to becoming the managing partner of its ten offices in the United States and abroad, she set up and was the managing partner of Pillsbury’s Silicon Valley office in Palo Alto, California. Her address, entitled "The Changing Fact of the Large Law Firm," was a most appropriate topic as we begin a new century faced with the question of multi-disciplinary practice.

The College of Law Visiting Committee was here for the spring meeting on March 17 and the Development Council will be meeting on April 14.

One of the highlights of each academic year is the visit of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to our College of Law. During their visit on Tuesday, March 21, the Court heard cases in the morning and the final arguments in the Baker Cup Moot Court Competition in the afternoon. For many of our law students the first chance to see appellate arguments occurs during this annual visit of the Supreme Court of Appeals to our College of Law, and two of our students have an unforgettable law school experience as they argue before our state’s highest court as finalists in the Baker Cup Competition.

On Friday, April 7, the Public Interest Advocates conduct their annual auction to raise money to support summer stipends for students working in public interest placements during the summer months. The spring auction is always a festive occasion at the College of Law. A week later our College of Law recognizes outstanding students, staff and faculty accomplishments as part of the University’s campus-wide Honors Weekend. On Wednesday, April 26, the first day of finals, the faculty will be engaged in a day-long faculty retreat culminating the semester-long faculty discussions which are a part of our self-study. On Saturday, May 13, the College of Law will conduct its annual Hooding Ceremony as part of the commencement weekend activities, and on Sunday, May 14, our University will observe its120th Commencement. As most of you are aware, the West Virginia University Coliseum is closed to remove the asbestos in the dome. Therefore, the commencement activities traditionally held in the Coliseum will be moved to Mountaineer Field and will be held outdoors "rain or shine."

The academic year has gone by incredibly fast. It seemed like just last week that I was writing a Dean’s Column which was welcoming back our students for a new academic year. It has been a very good year in the life of our law school, and I sincerely thank all who have helped to make it such a good year.