Justice Joseph P. Albright was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals in November 2000 for a full twelve-year term. He was born in Wood County, West Virginia, on November 8, 1938. He married the late Patricia Ann Deem in 1958. They had four children, Terri Albright Cavi, Dr. Lettie Albright Muckley, Joseph P. Albright, Jr., and the late John Patrick Albright. In 1995, Justice Albright married the former Nancie Gensert Divvens. Mrs. Albright has three children, Susan Divvens Bowman, Debbie Divvens Rake, and Sandy Divvens Fox. Justice Albright earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame and his law degree from the Notre Dame Law School. At Notre Dame Law School, he won the Webber Prize for Appellate Advocacy and was a member of the Notre Dame Law Review. Justice Albright practiced law in Parkersburg and surrounding counties from 1962 until September 1995. In September 1995, then-Governor Gaston Caperton appointed him to an unexpired term on the Supreme Court of Appeals. He served through December 1996. After his former service on the Court, he resumed his law practice in Parkersburg and Charleston. Since 1959, he has been an officer and director of Albright’s of Belpre, Inc., a family corporation which owns and operates Belpre Furniture, a retail furniture business with locations in Belpre, Ohio, and Parkersburg. A former assistant prosecuting attorney of Wood County and former city attorney for the City of Parkersburg, Justice Albright was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1970 and to six more terms commencing in 1974. He served as Chairman of the House Education Committee (1977-78), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee (1979-84), and as 52nd Speaker of the House of Delegates in 1985 and 1986. He has served on a number of public and quasi-public boards and commissions, including the Parkersburg Charter Board from 1969-1970, when Parkersburg adopted a new city charter. He is a member of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Parkersburg. He served as Chief Justice in 2005.

Home | Opinions | Site Map | Law Library | Rules |  Staff | Site Search | Terms of Use