Law Firm Archives - West Virginia Press Release

Jenkins Fenstermaker recognized in 2019 Best Law Firms by Best Lawyers®

Fourteen Jenkins Fenstermaker practice areas earned Tier 1 and Tier 2 rankings in Best Lawyers® Best Law Firms list in the Charleston metropolitan area.

A complete list of Jenkins Fenstermaker’s 2019 Best Law Firms rankings is as follows:

Metropolitan Tier 1 – Charleston

Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
Commercial Litigation
Commercial Transactions/UCC Law
Corporate Law
Employment Law – Management
Insurance Law
Litigation – Construction
Litigation – ERISA
Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
Real Estate Law
Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Metropolitan Tier 2 – Charleston

Litigation – Labor and Employment
Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Firms included in the 2019 Best Law Firms list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. To be eligible for a ranking in a practice area and metro region, a law firm must have at least one lawyer who is included in Best Lawyers®, which recognizes the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys in the United States. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise. Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence and is the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession.

Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC, provides representation in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, backed by more than 90 years of legal experience. Clients can find attorneys dedicated to quality, detail-oriented representation in business and commercial law; wills, trusts and estates; litigation; and labor and employment law.

Jenkins Fenstermaker Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year”

Four Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys were named 2019 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America®. Honored were Stephen Golder, Lee Murray Hall, Robert Sweeney, Jr. and Steven Wellman.

Stephen Golder

Stephen Golder was honored as 2019 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Real Estate Law.

Lee Murray Hall

Lee Murray Hall was honored as the 2019 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Insurance Law.

Robert Sweeney, Jr.

Robert Sweeney, Jr. was honored as the 2019 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Litigation-Construction.

Steven Wellman

Steven Wellman was honored as the 2019 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Workers’ Compensation Law-Employers.

About Best Lawyers

Best Lawyers is the preeminent national resource for recognizing legal expertise, ethics, and professionalism. Selection is based solely on confidential peer review, and only one lawyer is selected in each geographical area for each area of practice.

About Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC

Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC attorneys pride themselves on quality representation, superior service, and dedication to their clients’ needs. The firm’s lawyers provide counsel and legal representation in business and commercial, labor and employment, and civil litigation matters, as well as estate planning services. Based in West Virginia, the firm also routinely handles legal matters in Kentucky and Ohio. The firm and its attorneys have been nationally recognized in Chambers USA, Martindale-Hubbell, and U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Firms.

Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys recognized by Best Lawyers®

The attorneys were recognized in the following areas:

Wesley F. Agee – Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Henry C. Bowen – Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers
Stephen J. Golder – Business Organizations (including LLCs and partnerships); Commercial Transactions/UCC Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Real Estate Law
Lee Murray Hall – Insurance Law
James W. Heslep – Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers
Brian S. Lindsay – Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
Charlotte A. Hoffman Norris – Employment Law – Management; Health Care Law; Litigation – ERISA
Thomas E. Scarr – Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Employment Law – Management; Litigation – Construction; Litigation – ERISA; Litigation – Labor and Employment
Robert “Bo” Sweeney, Jr. – Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Construction; Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
Barry M. Taylor – Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Steven Wellman – Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”

Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys selected for inclusion on Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists

Huntington, W.Va., Seven Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys have been named to the 2018 West Virginia Super Lawyers list and five have been named to the 2018 West Virginia Rising Stars list.

The following attorneys named on the 2018 Super Lawyers list, identified by the practice area(s) for which they are being recognized, are:

Stephen Golder – Business/Corporate Law
Charles Gould – Civil Litigation: Defense
Lee Murray Hall – Insurance Coverage
Barbara Keefer – Insurance Coverage
Thomas Scarr – General Litigation
Robert Sweeney Jr. – Construction Litigation
Barry Taylor – Medical Malpractice Defense

The following attorneys named on the 2018 Rising Stars list, identified by the practice area(s) for which they are being recognized, are:

James Heslep – Workers’ Compensation
Nathanial Kuratomi – Civil Litigation: Defense
Anna Price – Civil Litigation: Defense
Xavier Staggs – Employment & Labor
Sarah Walling – Insurance Coverage

Super Lawyers, part of Thomson Reuters, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process, which results in a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC provides representation in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, backed by more than 90 years of legal experience. Clients can find attorneys dedicated to quality, detail-oriented representation in business and commercial law; wills, trusts and estates; litigation; and labor and employment law.

Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys recognized by Best Lawyers®

The attorneys were recognized in the following areas:

Wesley F. Agee – Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Henry C. Bowen – Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers
Stephen J. Golder – Business Organizations (including LLCs and partnerships); Commercial Transactions/UCC Law; Corporate Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law; Real Estate Law
Lee Murray Hall – Insurance Law
Henry Kayes – Trusts and Estates
Brian S. Lindsay – Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
Charlotte A. Hoffman Norris – Employment Law – Management; Health Care Law; Litigation – ERISA
Thomas E. Scarr – Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Employment Law – Management; Litigation – Construction; Litigation – ERISA; Litigation – Labor and Employment
Robert “Bo” Sweeney, Jr. – Commercial Litigation; Litigation – Construction; Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants
Barry M. Taylor – Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
Steven Wellman – Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Jenkins Fenstermaker Attorneys Named “Lawyer of the Year”

Three Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys were named 2018 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers in America®. Honored were Stephen Golder, Charlotte Hoffman Norris and Thomas Scarr.

Stephen Golder was honored as 2018 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Commercial Transactions and UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) Law.

Charlotte Hoffman Norris was honored as the 2018 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Litigation – Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Thomas Scarr was honored as the 2018 Charleston, WV “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Litigation – Construction.

“We are very proud of our partner’s accomplishments and recognition. The outcomes that these attorneys deliver are the validation of their selections as Lawyer of the Year,” said Steven Wellman, CEO and Managing Member of the firm.

About Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC

Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys and firm recognized by Chambers and Partners USA

Four Jenkins Fenstermaker attorneys were recognized in the 2017 Chambers and Partners USA publication for their work in litigation. The firm was also recognized in the areas of general commercial and employment litigation.

Lee Murray Hall focuses her practice on insurance coverage, insurance defense and bad faith defense. Her insurance defense practice includes municipal liability claims, motor vehicle and trucking claims, premises claims, construction accidents, deliberate intent and medical malpractice claims. She currently serves as the president of the West Virginia Board of Law Examiners and is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and the International Association of Defense Counsel.

Thomas E. Scarr practices in the areas of commercial litigation, products liability, toxic tort and labor and employment law. He currently serves on the West Virginia State Bar Board of Governors and is a member of the Defense Research Institute and the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia.

Robert H. Sweeney Jr. focuses on general civil litigation, with a concentration in the defense of mesothelioma and asbestos claims, construction disputes and defending employers in deliberate intent suits. He is a member of the West Virginia Defense Trial Counsel and Contractor’s Association of West Virginia. Sweeney has also been trial counsel in every asbestos trial group in West Virginia since 2003.

Charlotte Ann Hoffman Norris practices in the areas of commercial litigation, insurance coverage, products liability, professional licensure and malpractice, healthcare and labor and employment law. She also recently expanded her areas of practice to include special education law, as an extension of her employment law practice and issues of disability accommodation. Norris is a member of the West Virginia Defense Trial Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, and the Counsel of Parent Attorneys and Advocates.

Chambers and Partners has published guides to the legal profession since 1990, and it now covers 185 jurisdictions. Chambers researchers identify and rank the world’s best lawyers and law firms based on in-depth, objective research.