The Red Velvet Lawyer

The Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Project  at the Appalachian School of Law The Appalachian School of Law offers three  pro bono service programs.  Today, I'll talk about the first program --  the Court Appointed Special Advocates ( CASA ) program.   In later postings, here  and  here , I profile the VITA tax service program and the Great Eastern Trail project, respectively. Court Appointed Special Advocates CASA is a national organization managed on a state and local basis through the court system.  The 29 th Judicial District, which includes Buchanan County , employs case managers to supervise volunteers from the community.  ASL students serve as the majority of the local volunteers.   ASL students spend 30 hours in intensive training at the school to learn to advocate for children in court.  ASL provides a classroom and materials for the training.   The trainer brings in s...

A quick review of the postings by scambloggers suggests that ASL grads are a sorry lot.  Too bad the facts say otherwise. Without going into additional detail, which I will happily do in later postings, I can say with great pride that our graduates have already ascended to these professional heights in public service positions: 1 state legislator (2011 grad) 5 judges (2002-2009 grads) 4 judicial clerks (2007-2012 grads) 6 Commonwealth Attorneys (2000-2008 grads) 4 in Judge Advocates General Corps (2003-2011 grads) 1 in federal government (Soc. Sec. Adm.) (2005 grad) 3 in state government (2004-2006 grads) This data does not reflect employment by our most recent grads.   This list reveals that in a very short time after graduation, our graduates assume public service positions that further the service mission of the school, provide financial security for the families of these alumni, and show --  in the best...

We have a law school that looks like a law school! An ABA accreditation team found:  “The physical structure . . . is an especially imaginative and thorough-going remake of a . . .  public school facility.  It has a high degree of functionality, is a thing of beauty, and dominates the landscape of the town and environs.” The Main Building Appalachian School of Law uses a renovated Depression-era school, built as a WPA project in a Jeffersonian-architectural style, for its main campus building of 45,572 square feet.   It houses most of the classrooms, administrative offices, and faculty member offices.   Those Depression-era masons so soundly laid the original brickwork that ASL ’s founders made no structural change during renovations in 1997.   The renovation project earned an award from the American Institute of Architects and has drawn other acclaim.        The ABA accreditation team also noted: "As in t...

5,000 Friends and family (perhaps mostly family): You helped me reach a milestone much earlier than ever expected! Some time this morning, while I was doing laundry, you pushed to over 5,000 my total page views for the blog I launched in March. I truly appreciate your interest in this aspect of my "voice." Next month I hope to do some in-depth interviews of our faculty members.  After that, I'd like to profile many of our students and alumni. I love you all!  Really. Let me know what else I can do to make your student or law practice lives easier or more informed.   Feel free to send me suggested topics.

In response to interest expressed by our students, Appalachian School of Law offered several summer school courses that met students' scheduling and geographic needs. These courses further benefit students by giving them options to pursue interests that our bar-focused curriculum makes more challenging during the regular school year.   The courses made it much easier to satisfy the requirements of two certificate programs: the Lawyer as Problem-Solver certificate and the Natural Resources Law certificate.  More than fifty (50) students registered for the four courses offered in the summer of 2013: Workers' Compensation [and ADR], Oil & Gas Law, Law Office Practice, and Renewable [Energy Sources].  For a description of the courses, see our catalog . Background Several years ago, Appalachian School of Law tried to offer a more traditional law school format with courses scheduled during the months of June or July.  A few students foun...

In August of 2013, the  Appalachian School of Law began offering a new advanced degree.   The Master’s in Legal Studies (MLS) degree serves students who: Are interested in being trained in the law for professional development;  Want a birds-eye view of what legal studies is like without committing yet to the rigors of the entire law school experience; Seek the possibility of receiving special admissions consideration to the JD program by successfully completing the MLS degree (perhaps because they have a lower GPA or LSAT score); or  Work in a field that is law-related, heavily regulated, or is benefited by specialized legal knowledge, like:  paralegal,  human resources,  ethics/compliance,  contract marketing and/or analysis,  general management, and  similar fields. A student can complete the Master’s degree in one year, but may take up to three years to complete ...

This week, I held my last Board meeting as President of the Virginia Mediation Network (VMN).  It was a bittersweet moment giving me a chance to reflect back on all we had accomplished and the chance to say: "What's next!" I remember the first meeting I conducted as VMN President, in October 2012.  I arrived frazzled and exhausted after staying up most of the night reading all the copies I could assemble of the minutes of past-Board meetings.  I was trying to find the loose threads that I might need to follow or tie up. Then I turned my attention to my Dad's very old, yellow-stained, version of the Robert's Rules of Order that he had used as President of some professional organization a long time ago. I was trying to learn how to conduct the meeting the next day. I was overwhelmed, but worked hard to be ready for the trust my tribe had placed in me.  As part of that personal growth of trusting myself and earning the trust of my tribe, I had: Attended a...

The August 2013 issue of preLaw: A National Jurist Publication features the Appalachian School of Law in its article entitled: "Small and Personable." The article focuses on 12 law schools -- located in Virginia, West Virginia and eastern Tennessee -- that offer small class sizes and a personal touch. The discussion of ASL notes that its founders decided to place the law school in the heart of central Appalachia so it could serve the region in many ways. It quotes our fabulous Dean, Lucy McGough, saying: We are committed to and take great pride in our "Cheers Effect."  Here at ASL, everybody not only knows your name, but also is invested in your success in law school, in passing the bar, and in ensuring your professional career.  It notes ASL's focus on experiential learning leading to practice-ready skills.  It recognizes our nationally known externship program . It also describes our upper level focus on dispute resolution , our bar exam prep cou...

Students may have said I was breaking all the rules of what I call "Mountain Modesty" over the past several days.  They may have perceived my story as bragging about myself, and I was a bit.   But, mostly, I was trying to describe how every achievement begins as an idea.    Recently, one of my ideas -- first hatched in 2004 -- manifested as the published 3-page essay in a new book called, What the Best Law Teachers Do , by Michael Hunter Schwartz, Gerald F. Hess, and Sophie M. Sparrow (Harvard U. Press 2013). Hang with me here for a moment.  You will like this less conventional way of thinking about how an idea goes from beginning to full execution. Yogis who talk about the energetic system of chakras will tell you that every idea moves through six of the seven chakras to manifestation.  The "Third Eye" chakra -- located between the eyes in the middle of the forehead -- represents where, in the mind's eye, we think up ideas. The next step in th...

Some positive affirmations: Fear can’t stop me from moving forward.  I’m worthy of positive changes in my life. Today, I welcome change as an opportunity. I am fulfilling all my commitments today. I am confident in my ability to meet challenges today. I have all that I need to do what is good and right in my life today. I am learning to trust my own wisdom and give myself permission to follow it. In July, I posted some positive affirmations for nervous bar exam takers  here .  This past Friday, I provided our incoming students with a modified copy of the same list of affirmations during the session I taught on test taking strategies and test anxiety. Science confirms that this sort of positive self-talk changes our brains in good ways, elevates emotions, and generates the kind of energy people want to be around . Think of Christopher Robin -- the wise, pleasant, cheerful, compassionate companion and leader  -- in the Winnie-the Po...

The Appalachian School of Law has one of the Lowest Tuitions of any Private Law School East of the Mississippi River Appalachian School of Law, given our mission and the population we serve, has worked to keep tuition affordable. For the 2012-13 year, we charged $31,000 per year.  And, we lock that number in for the remaining two years of law school.  This number does not reflect scholarships or tuition remission many students obtain. As a private law school, we rely on tuition and donations to operate the school. We get no state tax monies (as far as I know) or infusion of capital from a university parent. A recently updated comparison  of 106 private law schools, provided by Regent Law School, shows that the Appalachian School of Law joins seven other private law schools with tuition costs below $31,000. Only three of those schools are located east of the Mississippi River.  Their tuition costs range from $29,360 to $30,...

Focus and be well-rested?  Every law student's elusive desire.  For today's class on test taking strategies and test anxiety, I asked our new 1L students to read M.H. Sam Jacobson's article: Paying Attention or Fatally Distracted?  Concentration, Memory, and Multi-Tasking in a Multi-Media World ( 2010).  She skillfully digests the science behind her thesis that students cannot be successful in law school if they do not manage distractions.  She also recommends getting plenty of sleep. Yesterday, as I was cleaning up my email box (and trying to avoid distractions), I found a web interview of Dr. Richard J. Davidson, co-author of The Emotional Life of Your Brain.    The  interview  (53 minutes) talked about the plasticity of the brain and how mindfulness meditation can help people manage distractions and shape the brain in helpful ways.  I knew some of this science from my own experience, training, and reading.  But, in...

This month, the Energy and Mineral Law Institute is featuring Appalachian School of Law on its  website .  I have reproduced that lengthy discussion below.   Be sure to check out the link for the upcoming symposium.  It will be terrific. Students may get a discount.   Our Program Excitement is growing over the official launch of ASL’s Natural Resources Law Program in 2013.  The NRLP is intended to provide a place for rational discussion, intelligent debate and collaboration by engaging both students and the surrounding community in efforts to balance our very real energy needs with stewardship of our land and natural resources.   A few years back, ASL formulated a plan to create a nationally-recognized natural resources law program.  The goal was to take advantage of ASL’s location in the heart of Appalachia’s coal and gas fields, to attract high quality students with an interest in this area of the law, to provide a resource bot...