Student, professor partner in federal appellate
Charleston School of Law featured in law school rating book

CHARLESTON, S.C., Nov. 21, 2008 - - For the first time in the history of the Charleston School of law, a third-year law student successfully argued in federal appeals court for a West Virginia prisoner's conviction to be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, the school learned this week.

Nelson, left, and Lawton. To download high-res photo, click here.

"It's not every day that a student is able to successfully argue a complicated appeal before a panel of federal appellate judges," said Associate Dean Margaret Lawton.

In January, Lawton was asked by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va., to partner with a student on an appeal of a federal prisoner from West Virginia who was convicted on drug charges in 2000. After the prisoner exhausted federal appeal of his sentence, he filed a complicated habeas corpus procedural motion to have his sentence reviewed again. (A writ of habeas corpus is a legal challenge by a defendant that the government doesn't have the authority to hold him.)

In the Fourth Circuit case U.S. v. Smith, Lawton got third-year student Susan H. Nelson to partner with her to write a legal brief on why the defendant's appeal needed to go to the Supreme Court. On Sept. 26, the team travelled to Richmond, Va., where Nelson argued orally before a three-judge federal appellate panel. This week in an unpublished opinion, the Charleston School of Law team learned its argument had been successful.

"I definitely developed my brief-writing skills," said Nelson, a 31-year-old Mount Pleasant native. "I felt very prepared by the time we went to argue the case before the Fourth Circuit."

Lawton, who served as a federal prosecutor before joining academia, said the experience was fulfilling for her and Nelson. She added that the successful argument reflected well on the Charleston School of Law.

"We worked on this brief together and it is rewarding to be able to have a student get real experience on a real case while in law school," she said.

Dean Andy Abrams congratulated the team for its hard work.

"You can bet that other law schools are taking a new look at the kinds of students who are training at the Charleston School of Law because it's not every day that a student - or even a practicing lawyer - wins an appeal based on habeas corpus law," he said.

A new lawyer is expected to be appointed to represent the prisoner at the next stage of his appeal.