New Circuit Judge to be sworn in

 MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Phillip D. Gaujot will be sworn in as West Virginia’s newest Circuit Judge at 4 p.m. on Thursday, September 17, in Courtroom One of the Monongalia County Courthouse, 243 High Street, in Morgantown.

Governor Joe Manchin III appointed Judge Gaujot to the new circuit judge position in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Monongalia County. The Legislature created the seat earlier this year through Senate Bill 338, which passed during the 2009 regular legislative session. Judge Gaujot will join Chief Judge Russell M. Clawges, Jr., and Judge Susan B. Tucker in the Seventeenth Circuit.

Former Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher will deliver the oath of office. Justice Thomas McHugh will speak at the ceremony. Judge Clawges will robe his new colleague. Judge Gaujot will begin work on Friday, September 18.

Judge Gaujot, 64, has practiced law in West Virginia for 38 years and has served as administrative law judge for Workforce West Virginia for the past eight years. He was an assistant attorney general from 1971 to 1974 and since then has been a solo practitioner in Charleston and Morgantown. Additionally, Judge Gaujot served as general counsel for the city of Nitro for eighteen years, the city of Shinnston for eight years, and for the sheriff of Kanawha County.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia University Alumni Association, having received his bachelor's degree in political science in 1968 and his law degree in 1971 from WVU. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Mon General Hospital Foundation and a past member of Session of the First Presbyterian Church in Morgantown.