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Appeals Court Win

Washington and Lee third-year law student Amanda K. Streff and the W&L Black Lung Legal Clinic successfully argued a case in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia last month.

The decision, rendered earlier this week, denied a petition from Consolidation Coal Company to review the awarding of benefits to William S. Kusch Sr. under the Black Lung Benefits Act. Amanda’s argument led to the court’s awarding the benefits to Kusch. You can read details here.

Before the case was determined, Amanda talked about preparing for it with W&L Law professor Brian Murchison on an edition of WLUR’s “Equal Time” program. It’s a fascinating interview with both Amanda and Timothy C. MacDonnell, assistant clinical professor of law and director of the Black Lung Legal Clinic, and you can listen to it below.

Equal Time with W&L Law Professor Brian Murchison

In her conversation with Professor Murchison, Amanda noted that the experience was special: “I’ve talked to attorneys I’ve worked with over the summer, and they said they were jealous that they hadn’t been able to argue before a circuit court. This is an experience that a law student at most any law school isn’t going to get.”

Next month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit will hold a day-long session in the School of Law, where one of the three cases on the docket will be another black lung case that the W&L clinic is handling. That session will be held on Friday, March 25, in the Millhiser Moot Court Room.