Appalachian Natural Resources Law Journal
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Appalachian School of Law (ASL) is an ABA-approved private
law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...
on a four building campus in Grundy, Virginia, a small town near the convergence of Virginia, Kentucky, and West Virginia. The school offers a three-year
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree, and enrolls approximately 128 full-time students. The law school was founded in 1994 and admitted its first class of students in August 1997. ASL was started and brought to
Buchanan County, Virginia Buchanan County () is a United States county in far western Virginia, the only county in the state to border both West Virginia and Kentucky. The county is part of the Southwest Virginia region and lies in the rugged Appalachian Plateau porti ...
as a tool of economic development for the region. ASL emphasizes professional responsibility and
alternative dispute resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...
in its curriculum and requires students to complete 25 hours of community service per semester in order to graduate. Each student is also required to complete an externship before graduation. According to ASL's 2021 ABA-required disclosures, 31% of the Class of 2020 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. ASL was also the site of a triple homicide that took place on January 16, 2002.


History

ASL traces its roots back to 1993 when Norton, Virginia lawyer Joe Wolfe came up with the idea to create a law school in Central
Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
. His idea was well received by local business leaders and a steering committee was founded in 1994 and grew to eighty members. The committee surveyed lawyers and found that legal education needed to emphasize professional responsibility and alternative dispute resolution as these pillars of law school were becoming more important in today's law practice. The committee gained permission from the Virginia General Assembly to start a law school in 1995 and continued to secure endorsements from local civic associations and industrial development authorities. Buchanan County, Virginia approached the committee in 1996 and offered the grounds and buildings of the former P.V. Dennis Elementary and Grundy Jr. High Schools to which the steering committee accepted. The motto of the school, ''Ex petra veritatis justitia exsurgit'', in English translates as, ''From the rock of truth, justice arises''. A $1 million loan (which was later converted into a grant) financed the buildings' renovations. The State Council of Higher Education in Virginia granted the school the ability to enroll students studying for the Juris Doctor Degree in 1997. The charter class of 71 students first attended classes on August 12, 1997. Buchanan County brought ASL to Grundy in order to revitalize a town that had been in a steady economic decline since the town's flood of 1977. ASL has brought a positive economic impact on its home town, including spurring construction of rental homes and the opening of additional businesses in the area. ASL has become a success story for the concept of higher education as an economic development tool. The school has brought in $12 million per year to the local economy. ASL's economic success spurred the conception and implementation of the
Appalachian College of Pharmacy The Appalachian College of Pharmacy (ACP), formerly known as the University of Appalachia, College of Pharmacy, is a private doctoral pharmacy school located in Oakwood, Virginia. The school, established in 2003, is Virginia's only three-year ac ...
(formerly University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy), which was founded in 2003 and opened its doors in 2005.


2002 shooting

On January 16, 2002, ASL Dean Anthony Sutin, Professor Thomas Blackwell, and first-year student Angela Dales were shot and killed by disgruntled student Peter Odighizuwa, 43, of Nigeria. When Odighizuwa exited the building, he was subdued by two students armed with personal firearms. At his trial, Odighizuwa was found mentally competent, pleaded guilty to the murders to avoid the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, and was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison.


Costs

The total cost of attendance (indicating the cost of tuition, fees, and living expenses) at ASL for the 2017-2018 academic year is $50,400.


Employment

According to ASL's official 2021 ABA-required disclosures, 31% of the Class of 2020 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation.


Profile

According to the schools' required 2020 disclosures, ASL's student body demographic was as follows: 69% White, 6% African American, 9% Hispanic, 5% Asian American, 2% Native American, with the remainder unknown or not reporting. The student to full-time faculty ratio in 2017 was 10.6 to 1. For the fall 2020 entering class, 607 applied for admission, of which 272 (45%) were granted admission and 72 (26% of those accepted) matriculated into the first year class. The 25-75 percentile range for LSAT scores and undergraduate GPA is 144-153 and 2.76-3.44. Of the Appalachian graduates taking the Virginia bar for the first time in July 2021, 20% passed, vs. a 79% average rate. The student body size declined from 332 total students in 2011 to 96 in 2016, before rebounding to 128 in 2017 and 170 in 2020. Appalachian School of Law was granted full accreditation by the American Bar Association on June 12, 2006, In 2017, Appalachian School of Law was one of several law schools sanctioned by the American Bar Association due to lax admissions standards and other defects. At theABA meeting of February 20-22, 2020 the Council of the Section on Legal Accreditation lifted the sanctions, stating that the school had demonstrated compliance with accreditation standards.Peter Vieth, "Accreditation Cloud Lifted for Appalachian School of Law" Virginia Lawyers Weekly March 6, 2020 available at https://valawyersweekly.com/2020/03/06/accreditation-cloud-lifted-for-appalachian-school-of-law/


Campus

The ASL campus consists of three buildings, the main academic building, the Booth Center and the law library. The law school also uses the Booth Hall reception room as a classroom, as the Southwest Virginia Community College occupies all the classrooms. The main academic building was created from the town's former high school (and junior high school) and gymnasium complex; these buildings were joined and extensively remodeled and expanded as part of a $1 million award-winning architectural project. The main building contains an appellate courtroom (which doubles as the auditorium for large events), a trial courtroom, five seminar rooms, student mailroom, the Lion's Lounge, and faculty and staff offices. Most rooms are wired for internet access. The two-story law library is adjacent to the main building. The building has and has facilities for seminar classes and group study rooms. The library contains almost 227,000 volumes. Once the former Grundy Elementary School, this building has also been extensively remodeled and features individual and group study areas, a computer lab, and both wireless and wired internet access. A third campus building, Booth Hall, has recently opened. Booth Hall is situated behind and to the rear of the main academic building and law library. The building will have of space on three floors. Thirty three parking spaces will be situated on the first floor. Additional classrooms, including one that seats 150 students, computer lab, student lounges, and a conference room will be included in the new building. The building is estimated to be completed in 2008 and will house the school's Business Office and President's Office. The building will also house facilities for
Southwest Virginia Community College Southwest Virginia Community College (SWCC) is a public community college in Cedar Bluff. It is part of the Virginia Community College System. SWCC was opened in 1968 to serve the residents of Buchanan, Russell and Tazewell counties, as wel ...
, which will share classroom space with ASL.


Academic program

Students at Appalachian complete the traditional law school curriculum as required by the American Bar Association (ABA); however, the school distinguishes itself from almost all of the other 192 ABA accredited law schools in the country, as its students are required to spend 25 hours each semester on community service projects, ranging from dispute resolution training to humane society management. Only 11 other law schools have similar mandatory programs. ASL offers a Pre-Admission Summer Opportunity (PASO) programs for students who have the potential to become good lawyers and law students but whose LSAT's and GPA's do not necessarily reflect their skills and talents. The program lasts four weeks, three of which are independent home study, the final week is the on-campus lecture and final exam. The top scorers on the final exam may be offered admission to the fall's first year class. First year students arrive one week before the academic year starts to partake in a one credit course called Introduction to Law which covers the basic skills needed in order to succeed in law school. Students also register for classes and finalize their financial aid needs then. First year students cover legal foundation courses: Torts (4 credits), Contracts (6 credits), Property (6 credits), Civil Procedure (5 credits),
Criminal Law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...
(3 credits) and Legal Process (6 credits). Legal Process teaches students legal research and writing. First-year students also take an orientation course to the community service program in the first semester and an additional legal research course in the second semester. First-year students may not take any electives. Additionally, all first-year students are required to complete a 200-hour unpaid externship over the summer before their second-year. This requirement is usually met by students working as judicial clerks, interns in prosecutor and defense offices, state and federal governmental agencies, and private practices. Placements have included state supreme courts, the
Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
, and the United States Department of Justice. The school provides assistance in locating and obtaining these positions. Second year students cover additional legal foundation courses: Constitutional Law (6 credits),
Evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...
(4 credits), Professional Responsibility (3 credits), and
Criminal Procedure Criminal procedure is the adjudication process of the criminal law. While criminal procedure differs dramatically by jurisdiction, the process generally begins with a formal criminal charge with the person on trial either being free on bail or ...
(3 credits). Students also cover Trusts and Estates (4 credits) and Business Associations (4 credits), and are allowed to take electives, such as Appellate Advocacy. Students also fulfill their alternative dispute resolution requirement in the second year. Students in their third year have the most options when it comes to electives. Third year students are required to take Family Law (3 credits),
Secured transactions In finance, a secured transaction is a loan or a credit transaction in which the lender acquires a security interest in Collateral (finance), collateral owned by the borrower and is entitled to foreclose on or repossess the collateral in the even ...
(3 credits), Payment Systems (3 credits), and a Practicum (4 credits), which include: Trial Advocacy, Criminal Practice, Estate Planning, Pre-Trial Practice, Real Estate Transactions, Insurance Law, or Employment Law. Additionally, students have their capstone experience in a writing-intensive seminar. Each student takes two practicums focusing on the practical aspects of legal practice.


Alternative dispute resolution

ASL is distinguished by its requirement that all second-year students complete a mandatory
Alternative Dispute Resolution Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), or external dispute resolution (EDR), typically denotes a wide range of dispute resolution processes and techniques that parties can use to settle disputes with the help of a third party. They are used for ...
(ADR) class. The school has also held ADR training in local schools; this program drew national attention, particularly from former
U.S. Attorney General The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice, and is the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government of the United States. The attorney general serves as the principal advisor to the p ...
Janet Reno, who has publicly congratulated the school on this effort. Students are given an overview of different types of conflict resolutions, particularly mediation, negotiation, and arbitration. Ethical issues are explored in addition to legal and policy ramifications. Students learn the strengths and weaknesses of each method of dispute resolution and learn which methods are appropriate for certain situations. Students also have the option of taking additional courses in their second and third years to earn certification for mediation under the "Lawyer as a Problem Solver" Certificate Program. Students must complete basic law school procedure courses, two ADR focused courses, and an additional problem solving skills course. ASL offers two courses to fulfill this requirement: certified civil mediation, and advanced negotiation. The school has two faculty members who solely teach alternative dispute resolution related courses.


Student life

ASL has an active student body involved in activities not only on campus but within the local community and the legal profession as well. Officially recognized student organizations on campus: ASL's student body governs itself through the Student Bar Association. The SBA is divided into three branches, the Senate, Executive, and the Honor Court. The Senate consists of three elected senators for the first year, second year, and third year classes. The Executive Branch consists of the Student Body President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer, plus any committees that the President appoints to assist in his or her endeavors. The Honor Court consists of six elected judges, two for the first year class and two per upper class. ASL also fields moot court teams that compete in national competitions. Students can audition for the team through an annual intra-school tournament that is composed of the Appellate Advocacy class in fall of the second year.


References


External links

* {{authority control Education in Buchanan County, Virginia Private universities and colleges in Virginia Law schools in Virginia Educational institutions established in 1994 Independent law schools in the United States Buildings and structures in Buchanan County, Virginia 1994 establishments in Virginia