A Record Year for ASL's VITA Volunteers

            For seven years, students at the Appalachian School of Law have provided free income tax preparation for low-to-moderate income residents at a People Incorporated sponsored VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) site.  Although the VITA site location has varied over the years from ASL’s library to the basement of the Courthouse to a class room at the college, one thing hasn’t changed and that is the commitment of the students who provide this service. 

            During this past tax season, 16 volunteers studied and completed the required IRS training to be certified as a VITA volunteer.  This is more volunteers than has participated in any previous year.  Along with the increase in the number of the volunteers, there has been a gradual increase in the number of residents accessing this service. This year’s increase was the largest in the site’s history.  The number of federal income returns prepared this year at 127 nearly doubled the number done last year.   
 

            ASL volunteers saved taxpayers approximately $15,200 in professional tax preparation fees while helping taxpayers get back federal tax refunds in excess of $50,000.  Additionally, the volunteers prepared and submitted 56 state income tax returns that netted another $14,000 for the individuals that they helped. The average adjusted gross income of individuals or households using the site was $11,792.

            Any student interested in being part of this worthwhile community service project can contact Laney Comer at lcomer16@my.asl.edu or Cathy Houlihan at choulihan15@my.asl.edu.  Cathy was the 2013-2014 ASL VITA President and Laney is the upcoming 2014-2015 president of ASL’s VITA club.   

ASL Community Saddened by Passing of Gaynell Street Fowler

We at Appalachian School of Law are sorrowed by the loss of longtime Grundy resident and ASL benefactress Gaynell Street Fowler.  Mrs. Fowler passed away Thursday night, April 17, 2014 in Florida.

"Mrs. Fowler was a one-of-a-kind person, a friend, and generous supporter of the School," said Dean Lucy McGough.  "She was the first person I met when arriving in Grundy and was immediately welcoming and helpful to me as I began my tenure as Dean of ASL. Her financial support was instrumental in assuring a successful start to the Appalachian School of Law."

 Mrs. Fowler's continued contributions to the law school are many and varied.  She supported fundraising efforts, like the Annual Golf & Gala, gave financial support to law programs, such as the Natural Resources Law Center and Distinguished Visitors series, and to numerous scholarship funds for law students.

Mrs. Fowler is the mother of our Trustee, Dawneda Fowler Williams, and grandmother of Lucy Williams Bowman of the Street law firm in Grundy.

A portrait of Mrs. Fowler was commissioned by the School and unveiled at her 95th birthday in 2013. The portrait hangs on the east wall next to the Dean's Office on the second floor in the main building of the School. The brass plate reads "Devoted Friend of the Appalachian School of Law."

Visitation services for friends and family will be held at the Buchanan First Presbyterian Church in Grundy, Wednesday, April 23 from 4-6 p.m.

Funeral Services will be held at the church the next morning at 11 a.m., Thursday, April 24.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire family.

 

 

ASL Hosts Virginia State Bar President Sharon Nelson and John Simek

The Appalachian School of Law Career Services Department was pleased to host Virginia State Bar President Sharon Nelson and her husband and business partner, John Simek on Monday, April 14th. The title of their presentation was “The Future of Law and How to Prepare For It.” Ms. Nelson and Mr. Simek discussed the current state of the legal profession and provided students with advice on how they can “reinvent law using technology” to be competitive and successful in the changing legal market.

Ms. Nelson is the President and Mr. Simek the Vice-President of Sensei Enterprises, a digital forensics, information technology, and information security firm in Fairfax. 

Chris and Brittany Fortier visit ASL for Janie Castle’s Career Service Speaker Series

 

Chris Fortier visited ASL April, 7th 2014, to speak about networking, and his career with the federal government as an attorney advisor for the Social Security Administration in D.C. Chris was the 2013 recipient of the Virginia State Bar R. Edwin Burnette Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year Award. His wife, alumna Brittany Fortier, spoke afterwards to interested students regarding health care law.

ASL Hosts Distinguished Alumni & Practitioners Panel

The annual Distinguished Alumni & Practitioners Panel was presented at ASL in connection with its first-year externship program.  The panelist included (from left to right) Professor Derrick Howard, Director of ASL's Externship Program; the Honorable Deanis Simmons of the 28th Circuit Court of the Commonwealth of Virginia; James Leffler, Executive Director of Lawyers Helping Lawyers; Alumni Blair Wood (Valedictorian Class of 2010) Attorney at the Creekmore Law Firm; and Alumni Gary Holland (Class of 2007) Of Counsel at Steptoe & Johnson. 

These highly accomplished individuals shared with first-year students the panelists' unique insights into achieving an educational and successful externship this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ASL Energy Law Moot Court Team Make Semifinals at West Virginia Energy Law Competition

The ASL community can be so very proud of the teams they sent to the West Virginia Energy Law Competition – 2Ls Greg Norris and Catherine Houlihan, and 2Ls David Rivard and Pedro Gonzalez. They all received high praise, and represented ASL ...with both class and substance. In addition, the Norris/Houlihan team advanced to the semifinals where they were eliminated by eventual champion Duquesne. Mr. Norris was also recognized as one of the top 10 oralists for the preliminary rounds. And, perhaps most impressively, that team won the Best Brief award, which earned them a nice plaque which they say we can put in the ASL trophy case.