Regent Law News

Climbing to the summit of Mount Katahdin, Maine’s highest peak, is a feat in itself. Abruptly rising 4,000 feet to a height of 5,267 feet over steep terrain laden with vertical granite obstacles, the five mile climb is strenuous to say the least. But for Director of the Law Library and Professor Charles Oates, reaching the top of Katahdin this past August was simply the capstone of a lifetime achievement. It was the culmination of his 2,175-mile trek on the Appalachian Trail (A.T.). The A.T. is a continuous footpath through the wilderness, stretching from Georgia to Maine. It runs through 14 states, eight national forests, and two national parks. It extends over ridgelines of up to 6,643 feet in Tennessee and crosses the Hudson River at 124 feet in New York. And in 51 years, Professor Oates has seen every mile. He began on a hiking trip to the Smoky Mountains in 1957, when he was a counselor-in-training at a camp for older boys. In 1977, he backpacked the Georgia portion with a Boy Sco

Third year law student Stephen DeBoer was recently published in the August 7 issue of the Los Angeles Daily Journal. In his article A Discrimination Paradox , DeBoer compares a recent Employment Tribunal decision from the UK with California county clerks who refuse to conduct same-sex marriage duties based on their religious beliefs. He makes a case allowing for California clerks to be exempt from performing same-sex marriage duties on religious grounds. His article concludes, “If California is going to allow same-sex couples to marry, its law prohibiting religious discrimination must be respected – both legally in the system of justice and practically at the local country clerk’s office.” The Los Angeles Daily Journal is a daily publication covering law business news.

Regent Law School warmly welcomes Prof. David Velloney to its faculty. View his full faculty profile here . Velloney, a Connecticut native, brings a wealth of experience to the professorship, including an impressive tenure as an Army lawyer and criminal law instructor at the Army’s JAG School, along with 20 years of service as a commissioned officer. He attended West Point and earned his law degree from Yale. Velloney is looking forward to transitioning from Army lawyer to Regent Law professor. “I’m excited about teaching, training and mentoring Regent Law students to be the best attorneys they can be,” Velloney said, “I look forward to spending more time thinking about and developing ideas about how we can effectively integrate Christian principles and faith into our legal practice and scholarship.” Velloney will be teaching Criminal Law this fall. When not in the classroom, you can probably find Prof. Velloney at a soccer game with his wife watching one of his three daughters play. A