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Communications Office Services and Policies

Media Relations

Press releases, advisories and announcements
The Communications Office is responsible for creating press releases, media advisories, and other announcements. Press releases are submitted through UVA’s news office and posted on the UVA Web site in addition to the Law School Web site. Announcements of events may be posted on the Law School Web site and calendar and the UVA calendar.

Media Inquiries
The Communications Office fields inquiries from the media, ranging from reporters seeking contact with faculty to requests for photos. The Media Guide is a resource for reporters who want to contact professors who are expert in key areas. See also: Tips for Dealing with the Media (faculty/staff LawWeb password required)

Faculty Op-Eds
The Communications Office acts as a liaison with UVA to manage faculty op-eds or letters to the editor.

Faculty in the News/Alumni in the News/Law School in the News
The Law School Communications Office and the Foundation Communications Office collect items on faculty, alumni, and the Law School “in the news.” We collect submissions from any source, with appropriate verification. Alumni news items may be reprinted in UVA Lawyer, the Law School's alumni magazine.

Posters and Publicity/Conference Services

The Communications Office is responsible for publicity for major Law School-sponsored events. Requests for posters or other services must be made at least two weeks in advance of the event, and the event must be expected to attract at least 50 people. The Office will consider requests from student organizations in the case of major conferences, such as the Conference on Public Service and the Law, or important speakers, such as the U.S. solicitor general, on a case-by-case basis. Major conferences require additional advance notice.

Before requesting help with a poster, consider researching specific images you are interested in using, or provide ideas for an image or design. Due to time constraints the Communications Office is unable to respond to requests for a different image or design once the poster is drafted, so it's important to tell the designer what you want in advance. Edits to posters, once drafted, should be limited to text edits. These guidelines allow us to more efficiently serve the Law School.

Law School News

The Communications Office reports on Law School events and people in articles posted on the News portion of the Web site. These articles are often also used as press releases or linked from the UVA Web site. You may subscribe to the Law School RSS news feed or the Law School e-newsletter to keep up with the latest news. If you have a story idea you think the Communications Office should know about, or if you are interested in writing for the Law School Web site, contact us.

Web Site

Communications manages the Law School Web site, in conjunction with Law ITC. Inquiries about the Web site, Web services/capabilities, or corrections, should be made to webmaster@law.virginia.edu.

Several pages on the Law School Web site link to external sources, such as media sites that quote Law School faculty. Links to Web sites external to the University of Virginia should not be considered endorsement of those Web sites or any information contained therein.

Events Calendar

The events calendar, linked at the top of every page on the Law School Web site, depends heavily on input from students, staff and faculty. To avoid scheduling conflicts, it is crucial that members of the community notify us of important events, such as a conference or important speaker, as soon as they have a date(s) in mind. There are two ways to request that your event be posted on the calendar:

1. If you fill out a Room Reservation Request Form (accessible from LawWeb or the events calendar), you may check a box indicating you want your event put on the calendar. If you use this method, you will be asked to note additional details for the calendar, such as the time of the event (which may differ from the time of the room request), title of the event, etc. This is the preferred method when you know when and where your event will be. Once the event is posted, any requested change to the calendar posting should be e-mailed to lawcomm@virginia.edu. Requested changes to a room reservation should be sent to David Holsapple at deh8j@virginia.edu.

OR

2. E-mail lawcomm@virginia.edu, providing such details as time and place of the event, title of the event, a description and a contact person's e-mail and/or phone number, if you choose. USE THIS METHOD IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING A DATE FOR A LARGE EVENT, SUCH AS A CONFERENCE OR SYMPOSIUM, BUT HAVEN'T SCHEDULED A ROOM YET. We can mark such events as "tentative" if necessary.  During the summer break, e-mail lawcomm@virginia.edu to ensure that your event's dates are tentatively posted.

What event makes a good candidate for the calendar? Generally those open to the Law School public and likely to interest a cross-section of the Law School community. Speakers, lunch workshops and conferences would go on the calendar, regularly scheduled meetings of student organizations would not. (We do post the initial meeting of student organizations each semester). Charity events need to have a direct connection to the Law School to be listed on the calendar. For example, a blood drive on Law School Grounds may be listed, a 5K run on University Grounds that has no particular connection to the Law School would probably not. (There is a link to the UVA calendar under News & Events, if you are interested in University events.) That said, our judgment on inclusion tends to be liberal and permissive.

One final tip: please phrase calendar submissions in the third person; the calendar represents the whole school, so "come to our event" will likely be reworded.

We appreciate your help in making the Events Calendar comprehensive and timely and we look forward to hearing from you.

Logo, Business Cards, Letterhead and Related Materials

Communications is responsible for managing Law School business cards, letterhead, and other materials using the Law School logo, although some individual orders are also conducted by other Law School staff.

Business Cards
Orders for business cards and other materials are filled about twice a year, before the start of a new semester. Orders for new staff and faculty may be placed at the time of hiring. Official business cards are available to staff and faculty only. Following the initial order of cards, orders for staff are charged to departments; orders for faculty are charged to stipends. The top price for 250 business cards with two colors is $70; however, if orders are grouped together, the price per box may decrease accordingly.

Letterhead and Paper
For letterhead, the Law School uses Neenah Environment PC 100% Recycled Natural paper. The blank paper may be ordered from a number of vendors. Office letterhead orders are charged to offices; personalized press-printed letterhead or other materials, such as note cards, are charged to faculty accounts. Electronic personalized and office letterhead, as well as a number of label and envelope formats, are available on LawWeb.

Student Use of Law School Logo and Related Materials
Students are allowed to use electronic materials with the Law School identity for official purposes. Excluded uses include solicitations for alumni donations, resumes, business cards, letters to employers, or other uses that could confuse the identity of the Law School with the identity of the author. Accepted uses include those for academic enrichment purposes: correspondence with conference participants, posters for academic-related Law School events, and journal solicitations for academic papers. Logo use on T-shirts and other paraphernalia is governed by the University of Virginia’s licensing agreement with the Collegiate Licensing Company. If in doubt, contact the Communications Office. (Vendors may also contact the Collegiate Licensing Company: (770) 956-0520/www.clc.com)

Publications

The Communications Office works with a number of Law School departments to write, design, or work with vendors to produce brochures and catalogs. Alumni publications are produced by the Law School Foundation Communications Office.

Photos

Photos of the Law School, faculty, or events may be available upon request. Contact Communications

The Communications Office periodically arranges photo shoots around the Law School, or portrait shoots with faculty. Faculty members who want a new photo should contact the Communications Office.

Video and Audio

The Communications Office sometimes records video or audio footage of events and people at the Law School. The footage is solely used for communications purposes, primarily on the Law School Web site; some footage may be filed in the library after a year if permission by the speaker(s) is granted. The Communications Office is unable to fulfill requests for copies of footage, except for what is provided on the Web site (or in the case of graduation, through external vendors).

When the Law School records an event, it seeks permission from videotaped or audiotaped participants before posting any audio or video footage on the Web site. This does not apply to “crowd scenes”—general footage shot around the school that may be used for purposes such as the video tour. If you have concerns about such footage, contact the Communications Office.

Home Sweet C’ville

Home Sweet C’ville originated from a printed booklet made by Darden and Law School students to acquaint new students with the Charlottesville area. Since the material was shifted to the Web site, it has become a school- and community-wide resource for information about Charlottesville.

The Law School is always looking for help updating the C’ville site, and sometimes hires students to do so. The site has led to sister sites at Curry and UVA's Graduate Guide.

To offer a tip or provide content to the site, contact webmaster@law.virginia.edu.