The West Virginia University College of Law is the professional school for the study of law at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. The law school was established in February 20,1878 as the first professional school in the state, and remains the only law school in the state.

The law school is a member of the Association of American Law Schools and is accredited by the American Bar Association.

History

Founded in 1878, the WVU College of Law opened to students, with classes taken in Woodburn Hall. The school would move to Colson Hall in 1923, and finally to its current location on Law School Hill in 1974. The university settled on this location following its acquisition from the Morgantown Country Club, with the building being renovated in 2012.^[3]

The first graduate, William R. Thompson, received his LLB in 1879. In 1895, the first female graduate, Agnes Westbrook Morrison, graduated from the College of Law. In 1949, Charles E. Price was the first African-American student to graduate from the College.^[3]

West Virginia Law Review

Founded in 1894, the West Virginia Law Review is the fourth oldest law review in the United States and publishes three issues each year. The West Virginia Law Review is a professional, student-governed legal journal that publishes articles of interest to legal scholars, students, legislators, and members of the practicing bar. The publication, which includes notes, comments, and articles of scholarly and practical value to the legal community, is published by a student editorial board.^[4]

Clinics

• General Practice Law Clinic^[5]
• Child & Family Law Clinic with Medical-Legal Partnership^[6]
• Immigration Law Clinic^[7]
• West Virginia Innocence Project Law Clinic^[8]
• Taxpayer Advocacy Law Clinic^[9]
• Veterans Assistance Project Law Clinic^[10]
• Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic^[11]
• Land Use & Sustainable Development Law Clinic^[12]
• U.S. Supreme Court Law Clinic^[13]

List of Deans

1. Okey Johnson (1895-1903)^[14]
2. St. George Tucker Brooke (1903-1906)
3. Charles E. Hogg (1906-1913)
4. Henry C. Jones (1913-1921)
5. J. Warren Madden (1921-1927)
6. Thurman Arnold (1927-1931)
7. Thomas P. Hardman (1931-1956)
8. Clyde L. Colson (1956-1964)
9. Paul L. Selby (1964-1972)
10. Willard D. Lorensen (1972-1978)
11. E. Gordon Gee (1979-1981)
12. Carl M. Selinger (1982-1989)
13. Donald G. Gifford (1989-1992)
14. Teree E. Foster (1993-1997)
15. John W. Fisher, II (1998-2008)
16. Joyce E. McConnell (2008-2014)
17. Gregory W. Bowman (2015-2020)
18. Amelia Smith Rinehart (2021–Present)

Academics

Admissions

For the Class of 2022, the College of Law enrolled 115 students with an average LSAT of 154 and an average GPA of 3.46/4.00. The average age is 25, with a range of 21 to 44; 53% are female; 8% self-identify as minority. Out-of-state residents comprise 43% of the Class of 2022.

Rankings

• U.S. News & World Report listed WVU's full-time Juris Doctor program as 118th in the nation in 2023.^[2]
• #74 Best Law School for Environmental Law, # 76 in Health Care Law, #96 in Tax Law^[2]
• Top 25 Law School for Corporate Leadership – independent research by Professor Robert Anderson, Pepperdine University^[15]
• #31 Law School for Federal Clerkships — independent research, ABA data (2018)^[16]
• #2 Law School for Greatest Community Impact —The National Jurist (2017)^[16]
• Top Law School for Public Interest Law (A) and Environment Law (A) — preLaw Magazine (2019)^[17]
• Best Value Law School — preLaw Magazine/The National Jurist (2022, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015)^[17][18]

Bar-passage rates

Until 1989 graduates of the Law School were granted "Diploma Privileges" in West Virginia. This meant that graduates of WVU Law were not required to take the West Virginia Bar Exam. They were automatically licensed to practice law upon graduation.^[3] The most common bar exam for a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law is the Uniform Bar Exam. The passing UBE score in West Virginia is 270.^[19]

• ABA Ultimate Bar Passage Rate 2020: 90.20%^[20]
• First-time Bar Passage Rate - 2020: 82.22%

Employment

For the Class of 2018, the employment rate for full-time/long-term Bar Passage Required jobs was 66.3%. It was 7.1% for J.D. Advantage jobs. The employment rate for private practice jobs was 54.7%; for judicial clerkships, 13%; and for jobs in public interest law, 11.9%.^[21]

Cost of attendance

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at West Virginia University for the 2019-2020 academic year is $39,598 for WV residents, and $56,118 for non-residents.^[22] The Law School Transparency estimated debt-financed cost of attendance for three years is $152,702 for WV residents, and is $206,968 for non-residents.^[23]

Notable alumni

Graduates of the West Virginia University College of Law practice in 46 US states, as well as every county of West Virginia.^[24] The school has many notable alumni, which include former governors, judges, businessmen, congressmen, and diplomats.