Roberts Appointed Clinical Assistant Professor of Law
Patricia E. Roberts has been appointed Clinical Assistant Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School. Roberts was a Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law during the 2007-08 school year. In addition to her duties as a professor, Roberts serves as Director of Clinical Programs and Director, with Professor James E. Moliterno, of the Legal Skills Program. As Director of Clinical Programs, Roberts' responsibilities include the development of new clinic initiatives. Among them, she is developing a Veterans' Disability Clinic, which will open its doors in January 2009 as part of the Virginia Commonwealth University - William & Mary Health Policy and Law Initiative. Appellate litigation and special education advocacy clinics also are in the planning stage.
Roberts, with Professor Moliterno, also directs the Legal Skills Program, a course of study which uses a wide range of original materials and instructional methods to teach first- and second-year law students professional skills and ethical standards of practice.
"Faculty, students, and alumni often have shared with me their admiration for Patty's ability to teach and to inspire. I am delighted to see her appointed to the faculty," said Moliterno. "The success of our Legal Skills Program is due in great measure to her dedication. Everything Patty has worked on at the Law School has been made immensely better for her efforts, and I am sure the same will be true for our clinical program."
Roberts is a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman's College and William & Mary Law School.
At the beginning of her legal career, she practiced law in Newport News, Va., as a sole practitioner and later as a managing partner of a civil practice law firm. In 1997, she began teaching in the Legal Skills Program and, since 2000, has served in numerous administrative roles at the Law School including Associate Director of the Legal Skills Program, Director of the Academic Support Program and Externship Program, and Associate Dean for Academic Programs.
In 2004, Roberts received the John Marshall Award which is given annually by the Law School in recognition of exceptional service. She is a member of the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia and a former member and President of the Board of Directors of Legal Services of Eastern Virginia. She also has served as President of the Greater Peninsula Women's Bar Association.