Regent Law News

On Thursday, September 12, Regent University School of Law commemorated the grand opening of Grace Community Law Clinic in downtown Norfolk. The primary mission of the new branch: to effectively provide pro bono legal aid to the Hampton Roads community. Translated from Latin as “for the public good,” pro bono legal work is accomplished when professionals trained in law provide legal aid without fee. Regent University School of Law aligns its vision with just that – extending legal expertise in certain cases to those unable to pay to help lift our community and represent the underserved. The new branch’s facility enables Regent Law to reach more low-income families who have pending or ongoing cases before domestic courts. Located on St. Paul’s Boulevard, mirroring the City of Norfolk Courthouse, the clinic’s site is ideal for working with members of the community. Grace Community Law Clinic is set to render distinctive aid to family-related disputes, ranging from landlord/tenant i...

Not all law degree programs will land you in a courtroom. You can apply a law degree to a wide spectrum of careers, whether you want to work in the nonprofit sector, for a corporation, a municipality or civil works center, even a ministry. Here are three ways a law degree could help make a big difference for you. A Sounder Grasp The laws that govern our land affect every individual, business, organization, and entity in some way, whether directly or indirectly. A law degree offers a foundation in how law impacts society and in what ways it helps society function. Understanding legal principles allows you to provide a relevant, fuller scope of information and expertise in your organization. It can help you see things in a way others do not, give you an edge in functions from human resources to contract negotiations, and make you stronger at what you do, not to mention help others be better in their work, too. Enhanced Understanding Means Enhanced Value Understanding le...

Serving as a judicial clerk upon graduation is an aim for many law students. For a remarkable 26% of Regent University 2019 Law graduates who landed Judicial Clerkships, that aim has become a reality. “Regent students are prepared to secure competitive clerkships because of our professional support and counseling, our unique resources, and the School’s reputation with judges that has been solidified over the years,” said Dean of the law school, Chief Justice Mark Martin (Ret.). “This reflects the hard work of our students and the rigor of the program.” “Over the course of my career as director of Career & Alumni Services I’ve found that having a dean that is a retired jurist that has clerked and hired clerks is instrumental in placing exceptional students in extraordinary positions,” said LAW’s Director of Career & Alumni Services, Kathy Stull. “With our new dean, Chief Justice Mark Martin (2014-2019), we hit that exact balance of jurist/administrator.” Rebecca Garcia...

Regent University School of Law graduate Timothy J. Downing (JD '10) has been sworn in as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma after receiving his commission from the President this past Tuesday. He is now the top U.S. law enforcement official presiding over forty-four of the state's seventy counties. Downing most recently served as counselor to Oklahoma's secretary of state, and was previously a member of Oklahoma's House of Representatives and Assistant Attorney General of Oklahoma. Read more here >>

Regent University School of Law faculty received two of the University's top awards on Thursday. Professor Gloria Whittico, JD received the Chancellor's Award for her work as a Regent Law School faculty member, including with the Academic Success Program and her scholarship in the area of freedom suits. Law Library Director Marie Summerlin Hamm, JD, MLS received the Univeristy's Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship. Congratulations to both these outstanding law faculty members! Gloria Whittico bio and publications Marie S. Hamm bio and publications Pictured left to right: Associate Professor Gloria Whittico, Chief Justice Mark Martin (NC, Ret.), Dean of Regent University School of Law, and Professor Marie Summerlin Hamm, Director, Regent University Law Library.

Regent University School of Law Professor Caleb Griffin was recently interviewed by the Institutional Investor regarding recommendations he made in a forthcoming paper for enhancing the role of individual index fund investors in the proxy voting process. "The single largest investor in almost 9 out of 10 publicly-traded companies is one of the [three largest index funds]," Professor Griffin explained. "As it currently stands, individual index fund investors are utterly unable to express their preferences in how voting decisions are made." Read more here: Can the Proxy Voting Process Become More Democratic for Individual Investors? . You can view the original paper, We Three Kings: Disintermediating Voting at the Index Fund Giants (forthcoming Maryland Law Review) and other works by Professor Griffin on his SSRN author page .

Regent University School of Law Professor Bruce N. Cameron has filed an amicus brief in Patterson v. Walgreen Co. in support of the employee. He and alumnus Blaine Hutchinson (JD '18) published an article about the case last year, Thinking Slow About Abercrombie & Fitch: Straightening Out the Judicial Confusion in the Lower Courts (forthcoming Pepperdine Law Review). "In Abercrombie & Fitch, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the way that Title VII religious accommodation cases are litigated and evaluated." Their article explains these changes and suggests an altered proof framework for plaintiffs seeking an accommodation. Professor Cameron is the Reed Larson Professor of Labor Law at Regent University School of Law and a staff attorney at the National Right to Work Foundation. Blaine Hutchinson currently works as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Robert Jones of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Nevada. You can read mo...