Two attorneys who each hold degrees from the West Virginia University College of Law are receiving the law schools highest award this weekend for their outreach to the Mountain State and the nation.
George R. Farmer, Jr. and J. Davitt McAteer will receive the Justitia Officium Award during the College of Laws Hooding and Commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, at the WVU Creative Arts Center.
The award, established in 1978 to commemorate the law schools 100th anniversary, is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to the legal profession.
This event is just one of many graduation activities held during WVU ’s 138th Commencement. WVU graduation events are scheduled Friday through Sunday, May 11-13. For a complete schedule, visit http://www.wvu.edu/commencement/ .
George R. Farmer Jr.
Farmer is a native of Morgantown and received his B.S. in business administration from West Virginia University in 1953 and his J.D. from the WVU College of Law in 1956.
He practiced law from 1956-82 in the Morgantown firm of Farmer&Farmer, which was founded by his father, the late George Farmer. He is currently Of Counsel Attorney with the Morgantown law firm of Jackson Kelly, PLLC and specializes in litigation, banking, business and corporate law, real estate and estate planning.
Farmers business and law background combined with his clientsactive interests in the Morgantown community and its civic affairs, when, as chairman of the board of the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust and the Ruby Foundation, he managed the monies that established Ruby Memorial Hospital and the Hazel Ruby McQuain Amphitheater in Morgantown.
In 1988, McQuain, a longtime benefactor of the city and University, made a substantial gift to the WVU Foundation, Inc., in memory of her late husband and in honor of Farmer. In 1992, this endowment was dedicated to benefit the College of Law Library which, in accordance with the agreement, was officially named The George R. Farmer Jr. Law Library in 2004.
Farmers community leadership extends to membership in the Kiwanis Club and the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce, and he has been a longtime supporter of the Boy Scouts of America.
Throughout his career, he has been a member of and actively involved in the West Virginia Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia. He is a past president and member of the Monongalia County Bar and the West Virginia State Bar, and was a chairman and member of the Board of Governors of the West Virginia State Bar.
He served as a member of the Judicial Inquiry Commission from 1976-80. In 2002, he was inducted as a Fellow of the West Virginia Bar Foundation.
In 2006, Farmer was awarded WVU s highest honor, the Order of Vandalia, and he and his wife, Maryann, were namedMost Loyal Alumniduring Mountaineer Week of that same year.
J. Davitt McAteer
J. Davitt McAteer, a native of West Virginia, 1966 graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University, and a 1970 graduate of the WVU College of Law, has devoted much of his professional efforts to mine health and safety issues.
His work with consumer and environmental advocate Ralph Nader resulted in the landmark 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Acts. During the 1970s, he led the safety and health programs of the United Mine Workers and founded the Occupational Safety and Health Law Center.
At the request of the National Union of Mine Workers, he visited South Africa in 1984 to study health and safety issues, and his expertise continued to be called upon during the 1990s when the Clinton administration appointed him Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the U.S. Department of Labor, the then-second-largest law firm in the federal government.
Following the January 2006 back-to-back Sago Mine disaster and the Aracoma Mine fire, Gov. Joe Manchin asked McAteer to serve as his personal advisor and conduct independent investigations into the causes of those tragic events. McAteers subsequent reports offered recommendations to lift mine safety to its next levels.
McAteer serves as vice president of Sponsored Programs at Wheeling Jesuit University; is director of WJU s Coal Impoundment Project identifying and developing methods to stabilize or remove coal impoundments throughout Appalachia; and is a consultant to WJU s Clifford M. Lewis, S.J. Appalachian Institute addressing issues important to residents of Appalachia.
He leads several national centers addressing economic development, education, and mine safety, including the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center and the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies, which houses the NASA -sponsoredClassroom of the Future.
McAteer has served as co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Occupational Safety&Health Law Section. Hes admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous Circuit and District Courts. He resides and maintains an office in Shepherdstown.