A newsletter for employees of the West Virginia court system  Vol. 23  Issue 3  September 15, 2009

A Message From the Chief

"Stop and Smell the Roses"

As Chief Justice, I’ve had the pleasure of traveling the Mountain State and speaking with a number of groups on a wide variety of issues. My topics varied from the technical ("How to Get an Edge in Appellate Representation") to the philosophical ("Why We Need a Unified Bar") to the (hopefully) entertaining ("My Adventures in Egypt"). One of my favorite talks, especially when speaking to young lawyers, focuses on the need to periodically "stop and smell the roses." Too frequently, we fail to reflect on the wonderful things in our lives.(Read More...)

Supreme Court DVD Foundation of Justice Shown at Culture Center,
on West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A twenty-seven-minute documentary about the history of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the Supreme Court Chamber designed by architect Cass Gilbert, and the structure of the West Virginia court system was debuted at 6 p.m. September 2 at the West Virginia Culture Center.(Read More...)

West Virginia Supreme Court to Hold Argument Docket
at Marshall University

The West Virginia Supreme Court plans to return to Marshall University on September 22 to hear an Argument Docket during the school's celebration of Constitution Week.(Read More...) 

Blogging and the First Amendment

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and Marshall University are hosting a panel discussion on "Blogging and the First Amendment" at 2 p.m. Tuesday, September 22, in the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center on the campus of Marshall University in Huntington.(Read More...) 

Liberty Bell Award Given to Judge Booker T. Stephens

The 2009 Liberty Bell Award was presented to Judge Booker T. Stephens, Chief Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit in McDowell County.  Chief Justice Brent D. Benjamin presented the Liberty Bell Award to Judge Stephens during a Law Day ceremony in Welch on May 1, 2009. (Read More...)

Bar Foundation Selects 2009 Foundation Fellows 

 The West Virginia Bar Foundation has selected its 2009 Foundation Fellows. The Foundation is the philanthropic organization of the legal profession.(Read More...)

Chief Justice Awards $100,000 in IOLTA Funds

Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin awarded $100,000 in IOLTA (Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts) funds during a press conference in the Supreme Court Chamber on July 2.(Read More...) 

Justice McHugh Speaks to Silver-Haired Congress, Legislators

Justice Thomas McHugh spoke to members of the National Silver Haired Congress and the National Council of Silver Haired Legislators who were meeting at a South Charleston hotel on August 7..(Read More...) 

Supreme Court Receives $30,000 for Juvenile Justice Database

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia received $30,000 from Governor Joe Manchin III on August 11, for support of the Juvenile Justice Database.(Read More...)

Bill Will Allow Five Pre-Trial Release Pilot Projects

Governor Joe Manchin III signed Senate Bill 760 on May 20, authorizing the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia to establish up to five pre-trial release pilot projects around the state. The law became effective on July 7, 2009.(Read More...)

Circuit Judges Honored

Marshall University announced on June 10 that it is naming its annual Constitution Week celebration after Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Dan O'Hanlon of Cabell County.(Read More...)

Six-Year-Old Joins Judge Ferguson on the Bench

A six-year-old Fairland East Elementary School student was recently invited to sit on the bench with Cabell County Circuit Judge Alfred Ferguson and participate in court cases.(Read More...) 

Family Court Judge and His Staff Ride the Circuit

Family Court Judge K. Bruce Lazenby and his staff traveled by train this summer to hear cases in a nearby county.(Read More...)

Two Magistrate Clerks in Boone County are Named Hometown
Heroes by WSAZ 

Two Boone County magistrate clerks were recently named Hometown Heroes by the WSAZ television station for the work they did in raising money for a three-year-old boy who lost an eye to cancer.(Read More...)

Transitions

Phillip D. Gaujot of Morgantown became West Virginia's newest circuit judge on August 26 when Governor Joe Manchin III appointed him to the new seat in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Monongalia County.(Read More...)

Courthouse Renovations

The Randolph County Circuit Courtroom received some needed audio improvements this summer with funds from the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.(Read More...)

State Law Library News

The State Law Library now provides wireless Internet access service (WiFi). WiFi is provided to the public free of charge and is available throughout the library to anyone who has a wireless computer or handheld device.(Read More...)

Employee Suggestion Award Board Rules Change

The West Virginia Employee Suggestion Award Board has changed the procedural rules governing the Employee Suggestion Award Program. The new rules went into effect on July 6.(Read More...)

2010 Legal Holidays

For your convenience in setting dockets, calendars, and schedules for 2010, below is a list of the holidays provided by W.Va. Code §2-2-1 for the coming year, showing days on which judicial employees are to be accorded time off without loss of annual leave.(Read More...)

Change in Educational Leave

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia voted in its Administrative Conference on June 4 to revise the Educational Leave Policy to permit the use of educational leave to attend the Court's Bar admission ceremony.(Read More...)

 

 

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