Conditions Governing Use

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is stored offsite. Please make an appointment prior to visiting.

This collection is restricted for 100 years from the date of creation (through 2074) because it contains personal health information of adults and minors. Users must complete the Agreement for the Use of Sensitive Materials before the restriction expires in order to use the material.

Collection is not to be digitized prior to 2074. If a distance researcher requires copies, those copies must have names redacted.

Preferred Citation

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Arnold & Porter Buffalo Creek Litigation Papers, A&M 4512, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Arnold & Porter, 2022.

Biographical / Historical

Arnold & Porter were the law firm representing the plaintiffs — the Buffalo Creek Citizens Committee — with their lead counsel being Gerald M. Stern. Arnold & Porter house one of the world's leading pro bono programs, which they utilized during the Buffalo Creek trial. Stern graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School before beginning his legal career in Washington. He was a partner with Arnold & Porter for eleven years, where he was the lead counsel for the survivors of the Buffalo Creek disaster. Before joining Arnold & Porter, he was a trial attorney with the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, trying voting discrimination cases in the South. After his time with Arnold & Porter, he became a founding partner of the Washington, D.C. law firm Rogovin, Stern & Huge. That firm would merge with the New York law firm of Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine in 1989. Stern then became a Counselman at Phillips & Cohen LLP. The other prominent lawyer involved was Willis O. Shay of Steptoe & Johnson in Clarksburg, WV.

Scope and Contents

Collection primarily contains plaintiff-related legal documents from the trial of Dennis Prince et al. v. the Pittston Company, which pertains to the Buffalo Creek flood of February 26, 1972. Ground survey materials, psychological evaluations, plaintiff testimonies, newspaper clippings, and formal papers are included.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Buffalo Creek (Logan County, W. Va.)
• Buffalo Creek (W. Va.)
• Flood damage
• Liability for emotional distress
• Pittston Coal Company
• Trials, litigation, etc.
• West Virginia University College of Law Archives