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West Virginia Law Review Online

As the only law review in our state, the  West Virginia Law Review takes seriously its obligation to serve both academia and our state’s legal community. We serve those interests by publishing articles that are nationally relevant along with articles that address issues in West Virginia. Historically, this  Law Review has published special issues such as the National Coal Issue and the Energy and Sustainability Issue, reflecting the unquestioned importance of those areas of law to our state. However, we recognize that our state’s legal community is well-served by academic analysis of all areas of law. We also recognize that research specific to West Virginia can be difficult to find through major commercial avenues. Launched by Volume 117, the West Virginia Law Review is proud to publish the  West Virginia Law Review Online.

2015 West Virginia Legislation Update: Part II

The West Virginia Legislature passed several laws during the 2015 Regular Legislative Session changes which may impact the legal community. This Article is the second in a two part series that discusses several of those laws and the possible effects. The first part discussed the election of judges, the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, premises liability, and the Medical Professional Liability Act. This second part will focus on the limitations on punitive damages, deliberate intent, choice of law in products liability suits, comparative fault, wrongful and retaliatory discharge, and the Wage Payment and Collection Act.

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2015 West Virginia Legislation Update: Part I

The West Virginia Legislature passed several laws during the 2015 Regular Legislative Session which may impact the legal community. This Article is the first in a two part series that discusses several of those laws—including election of judges, the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, Premises Liability, and the Medical Professional Liability Act—and the possible effects. The second part of this Article will focus on the limitations on punitive damages, deliberate intent, choice of law in products liability suits, comparative fault, wrongful/retaliatory discharge, and the Wage Payment and Collection Act. 

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The Switch That Caused a Storm: Consolidating West Virginia's Surface Mining and Water Protection Programs

Two main statutes in the United States govern the processes for treating and discharging water that has been affected by coal mining: the Clean Water Act (CWA) 1 and the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). 2 The CWA governs the discharge of that water from a point source into waters of the United States, 3 and the SMCRA governs the process of surface mining and treating the water that comes into contact with the disturbed area. 4

In 1984, the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources consolidated the surface mine and water protection programs into one scheme for coal mining facilities.5 This paper argues that the consolidation of these two regulatory programs brought forth a storm of negative effects the state is still facing today.  Specifically, this paper argues that the switch caused an inconsistency in application of the regulations across industries and an inconsistency in interpretation between federal and state governments.

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Submission Criteria




The West Virginia Law Review Online also invites the submission of unsolicited manuscripts from both practitioners and academics to be considered for publication. The  West Virginia Law Review Online welcomes articles, essays, and book reviews concerning legal issues that are particularly relevant to the state of West Virginia and its surrounding region. 

Submissions for the Law Review Online should be limited to 5,000 words or less including footnotes. 

The Law Review Online accepts submissions either electronically or in hard copy form. Electronic submissions should be sent in Microsoft Word format to the West Virginia Law Review at:

wvulawreview@gmail.com 


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