The University of Richmond Law Review held an in-person symposium entitled “Overlooked America: Addressing Legal Issues Facing Rural United States.” Presentations focused on specific legal issues facing rural communities as well as the urban-rural divide. Topics included access to justice in rural America, water resources in indigenous communities, the coal industry’s degradation of Appalachian communities, electoral system reform to enhance rural representation, Virginia-specific policy recommendations, and a panel of esteemed authors and litigators discussing pharmaceutical companies’ roles in perpetuating the opioid epidemic in the region.

Schedule

8:15 a.m. – Check-In & Continental Breakfast
8:45 a.m. – Opening Remarks | Anthony F. Pipa
9:00 a.m. – Rural America as a Commons | Ann M. Eisenberg
10:00 a.m – Enhancing Rural Representation Through Electoral System Diversity | Henry L. Chambers
11:00 a.m. – Those Who Need the Most, Get the Least | Andrew Block & Antonella Nicholas
12:00 p.m. – Lunch
12:30 p.m. – Duped by Dope | Bryson T. Strachan
1:00 p.m. – Opioid Litigation Panel | Eric Eyre; Paul Farrell, Esq.; Patrick C. McGinley; & Rick A. Mountcastle, Esq.; Moderated by Carl Tobias
2:00 p.m. – Water Resources and Climate Equity | Rebecca Tsosie
3:00 p.m. – With a Wink and a Nod | Patrick C. McGinley
4:00 p.m. – Rural Bashing | Lisa R. Pruitt & Kaceylee Klein
5:00 p.m. – Closing Remarks & Reception