It’s acceptance season!

As thousands of prospective law students consider where they want to go to school, I’m proud to emphasize WVU Law’s ranking by PreLaw magazine in fall 2023 as #5 in the country for public interest law. I’m also proud to be just one of dozens of people at WVU Law working to make that program even stronger every year.

It’s true: when you walk the halls at WVU Law, you see and hear everywhere about the commitment of our students, faculty, and staff to public interest lawyering. Here are just a few ways the WVU Law students and community channel this commitment:

• Seven full-year public interest law clinics — in appellate advocacy, family law, general practice, immigration, land use, post-conviction relief, and veterans’ advocacy — for a 3L class of just over 100 students

• Externships (supervised, for-credit practice experiences) with public interest and government employers

• Public Interest Advocates, a student-run fundraising organization that provides funding for dozens of summer internships public interest organizations and even full-time post-graduate fellowships

• A concentration in Public Interest Law available to any J.D. student

• Graduation honors recognizing hundreds of hours of student pro bono commitments

• Specialized classes for public interest lawyering subjects such as child abuse and neglect law; race, education, and the law; and civil disobedience

• Student Bar Association volunteer activities and fundraisers

The list could go on!