MORGANTOWN — A Wheeling law firm provided West Virginia University College of Law more than $1 million to establish the Fitzsimmons Center for Litigation and Advocacy, which will expand the curriculum of the university.
Jessica Haught, the director of the center and interim associate dean for administration, said the center's purpose is focusing on broadening the curriculum at the College of Law to provide additional practical and experiential learning opportunities for students to enhance the essential skills of lawyering.
"Those skills include being able to identify key issues, analyzing all relevant facts, researching and understanding the applicable law and effectively presenting options or solutions through written and oral advocacy," Haught said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "These are skills that require a great deal of practice for students to build both competence and confidence."
Haught said she was once told by a judge for whom she clerked that, "They don’t call it the practice of law for nothing."
"To give our students more experiential opportunities and practice, the center will work with our outstanding faculty and adjuncts, many of whom are experienced members of the bench and bar, to develop new courses, programs or opportunities that integrate knowledge of legal doctrine with practical litigation and advocacy strategies," Haught said. "For example, while our students may learn the law of products liability, it is often intimidating when new lawyers are handed their very first products liability case."
Haught said at the center, the types of opportunities that will be provided can enhance the students’ preparation to assist their clients, their communities and the state.
Haught said the center will also help West Virginians and its communities by having lawyers who can assist in solving complex problems and by the College of Law being nationally recognized for its commitment to public service and many of our graduates work throughout the state in organizations that directly assist and represent West Virginians that are most in need of legal services.
"By further enhancing the essential skills of lawyering and problem solving, our students can more confidently go into our communities throughout the state, represent their clients, serve as community leaders and help provide solutions to many of the problems that affect our state," Haught said.
Haught said in its first year, the center will have two main goals.
"First, with the help of a fellow for the Fitzsimmons Center for Litigation and Advocacy, the center will begin analyzing our current curriculum at the College of Law to develop and seek institutional approval for an optional J.D. curriculum component whereby law students can concentrate their studies in courses focused on litigation and advocacy," Haught said.
Haught said the center will also serve as a conduit for collaboration between the College of Law and its experienced members of the West Virginia State Bar and members of the judiciary.
"The center will seek input from members of the bench and bar, many of whom are WVU College of Law alumni, and learn about areas where the center may have an opportunity to collaborate with faculty and practitioners in offering additional instruction for students in specialized or developing areas of the law," Haught said. "I am grateful to the Fitzsimmons Law Firm and the Fitzsimmons Foundation for this unique opportunity and excited to implement their vision to support legal education and to promote the practice of law in West Virginia and beyond."
The law firm pledged $1.25 million to establish the center. Clayton Fitzsimmons said the firm did so because litigation and advocacy are two important skills in the field of law and they wanted WVU law school students to receive more top-level education, as well as training, from the university.