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 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.

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.

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.

Clinics 
General Practice Law Clinic
Child & Family Law Clinic with Medical-Legal Partnership
Immigration Law Clinic
West Virginia Innocence Project Law Clinic
Taxpayer Advocacy Law Clinic
Veterans Assistance Project Law Clinic
Entrepreneurship & Innovation Law Clinic
Land Use & Sustainable Development Law Clinic
U.S. Supreme Court Law Clinic

List of Deans 

1st. Okey Johnson (1895-1903)

2nd. St. George Tucker Brooke (1903-1906)

3rd. Charles E. Hogg (1906-1913)

4th. Henry C. Jones (1913-1921)

5th. J. Warren Madden (1921-1927)

6th. Thurman Arnold (1927-1931)

7th. Thomas P. Hardman (1931-1956)

8th. Clyde L. Colson (1956-1964)

9th. Paul L. Selby (1964-1972)

10th. Willard D. Lorensen (1972-1978)

11th. E. Gordon Gee (1979-1981)

12th. Carl M. Selinger (1982-1989)

13th. Donald G. Gifford (1989-1992)

14th. Teree E. Foster (1993-1997)

15th. John W. Fisher, II (1998-2008)

16th. Joyce E. McConnell (2008-2014)

17th. Gregory W. Bowman (2015-2020)

18th. 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.
 #74 Best Law School for Environmental Law, # 76 in Health Care Law, #96 in Tax Law
Top 25 Law School for Corporate Leadership – independent research by Professor Robert Anderson, Pepperdine University
 #31 Law School for Federal Clerkships — independent research, ABA data (2018)
 #2 Law School for Greatest Community Impact —The National Jurist (2017)
 Top Law School for Public Interest Law (A) and Environment Law (A) — preLaw Magazine (2019)
 Best Value Law School — preLaw Magazine/The National Jurist (2022, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015)

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. 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.

ABA Ultimate Bar Passage Rate 2020: 90.20%
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%.

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. 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.

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

Stephen Ailes (L 1936), 8th United States Secretary of the Army (1964-65)
Robert E. Lee Allen (L 1895), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1923-25)
Tim Armstead (J.D. 1990), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (2018-) and 54th Speaker of West Virginia House of Delegates (2015-18)
Carl George Bachmann (L 1915), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia and Minority Whip (1925-33)
John P. Bailey (J.D. 1976), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (2007-)
William E. Baker (L 1896), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1921-54)
William W. Barron (L 1934), 27th Attorney General of West Virginia (1957-61), 26th Governor of West Virginia (1961-65)
Irene Berger (J.D. 1979), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (2009-)
W. Robert Blair (L 1954), 63rd Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives (1971-75)
William Thomas Bland (L 1884), U.S. Congressman for Missouri (1919-21)
Herbert Stephenson Boreman (L 1920), Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1959-82) and United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1954-59)
W. Craig Broadwater  (J.D. 1977), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1996-2006)
Chauncey Browning Sr. (L 1927), 25th Attorney General of West Virginia (1952) and Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1952-1971)
Chauncey H. Browning Jr. (L 1958), 29th Attorney General of West Virginia (1969-85)
C. Haley Bunn (J.D. 2010), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (2022-)
John T. Chambers (J.D. 1974), CEO of Cisco 
Robert Charles Chambers (L 1977), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1997-) and 50th Speaker of West Virginia House of Delegates (1987-97)
William G. Conley (L 1893), 15th Attorney General of West Virginia (1908-1913), and 18th Governor of West Virginia (1929-1933)
John Thomas Copenhaver Jr. (L 1950), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1976-)
Robin Davis (J.D. 1982), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1996-2018)
Joseph S. Farland (L 1938), career diplomat, U.S. Ambassador to Iran, Pakistan, Panama, Dominican Republic 
Mike Florio (J.D. 1991), founder of ProFootballTalk.com
Edwin F. Flowers (L 1954), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1975-76)
George Ford (L 1896), 1st Coach of Marshall Thundering Herd football (1903-04)
Joseph R. Goodwin (J.D. 1970), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1995-)
Gina Marie Groh (J.D. 1989), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (2012-)
Charles Harold Haden II (L 1961), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia(1972-75), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1975-83) and United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1975-2004)
Kenneth Keller Hall (J.D. 1948), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1971-1976), United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1976-1999)
Elizabeth Virginia Hallanan (J.D. 1951), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1983-2004)
Roger Hanshaw (J.D. 2012), 55th Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates (2018-)
Robert Lynn Hogg (L 1916), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1930-33)
John A. Hutchison (J.D. 1980), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (2018-)
 William J. Ihlenfeld II (J.D. 1997), U.S. Attorney, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (2010-2016, 2021-)
H. Marshall Jarrett (J.D. 1969), Director for the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice
George William Johnson (L 1896), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1923-25, 1933-43)
Thomas E. Johnston (J.D. 1992), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (2006-) and U.S. Attorney, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (2001-2006)
Irene Patricia Murphy Keeley (J.D. 1980), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1992-)
Jeffrey V. Kessler (J.D.), President, West Virginia State Senate (2011-2015)
Menis E. Ketchum (J.D. 1967), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (2009-2018)
William Matthew Kidd (L 1950), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1979-83) and United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1983-98)
Harley M. Kilgore (L 1914), United States Senator (1941-56)
Robert Bruce King (J.D. 1968), Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1998-) and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia (1977-81)
Tom Kleeh (J.D. 1999), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (2018-)
Dennis Raymond Knapp (L 1940), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1970-98)
Jon D. Levy (J.D. 1979), Chief Judge, United States District Court for the District of Maine (2014-) and Justice, Maine Supreme Judicial Court (2002-14)
Francis J. Love (J.D. 1932), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1947-49)
William C. Marland (L 1947), 24th Attorney General of West Virginia (1949-52), 24th Governor of West Virginia (1953-57)
Haymond Maxwell (L 1901), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1929-1940)
Robert Earl Maxwell (L 1949), Judge, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1965-2010) and U.S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (1961-64)
Spike Maynard (J.D. 1974), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1997-2008)
JB McCuskey (J.D. 2009), 21st West Virginia State Auditor (2017-)
Darrell McGraw (J.D. 1964), 33rd Attorney General of West Virginia (1993-2013) and Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1976-1988)
Thomas McHugh (J.D. 1964), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1981-97, 2009-13)
Carlos E. Mendoza (J.D. 1997), Judge,  United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida (2014-)   
Alan Mollohan (J.D. 1970), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1983-2011)
Arch A. Moore, Jr. (L 1951), 28th and 30th Governor of West Virginia (1969-77, 1985-89) and U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1957-1969)
Ephraim F. Morgan (L 1897), 16th Governor of West Virginia (1921-25)
Hunter Holmes Moss Jr. (L 1896), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1913-16) 
Matthew M. Neely (L 1902), U.S. Congressman (1913-21, 1945-47), 21st Governor of West Virginia (1941-45), U.S. Senator from West Virginia (1923-29, 1931-41, 1949-58)
William Smith O'Brien (L 1891), 17th Secretary of State of West Virginia (1933-48), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1927-29)
Mario Palumbo (L 1957), 32nd Attorney General of West Virginia (1991-93)
Roy Earl Parrish (1910), West Virginia state senator (1915–1918)
José Lorenzo Pesquera (L 1904), Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico (1932-33)
William J. Powell (J.D. 1985), U.S. Attorney, United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia (2017-2021) 
Robert L. Ramsay (L 1901), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1933-39, 1941-43, 1949-53)
Stuart F. Reed (L 1889), 14th Secretary of State of West Virginia (1909-17), Congressman from West Virginia (1917-25)
Richard A. Robinson (J.D. 1984), Chief Justice of Connecticut Supreme Court (2013-)
Edgar P. Rucker (L 1887), 12th Attorney General of West Virginia (1897-1901)
George M. Scott (L 1954), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1999-2000)
Kai Scott (J.D. 1995), Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2023-)
Clyde See (J.D. 1970), 48th Speaker of West Virginia House of Delegates (1979-85)
Harley O. Staggers, Jr. (L 1977), U.S. Congressman from West Virginia (1983-93)
Robert Jackson Staker (L 1952), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1979-2005)
Larry Starcher (J.D. 1967), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1997-2008)
Stephanie Thacker (J.D. 1990), Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit  (2012-)
Rick Thompson (J.D. 1978), 52nd Speaker of West Virginia House of Delegates (2007-13)
William S. Thompson (J.D. 1995), U.S. Attorney for the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (2021-)
Frank W. Volk (J.D. 1992), Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (2019-)
Mac Warner (J.D. 1982), 30th Secretary of State of West Virginia (2017-)
Harry Evans Watkins (L 1923), Judge,  United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia and United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia (1937-63)
Kasey Warner (J.D. 1980), United States Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia (2001-05)
William Wooton (J.D. 1971), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (2021-)
Margaret Workman (J.D. 1974), Justice, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia (1989-99, 2009-20)
Roderick C. Young (J.D. 1994), Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (2020-)

References

External links
 

West Virginia University
Educational institutions established in 1878
Law schools in West Virginia
Education in Monongalia County, West Virginia
1878 establishments in West Virginia