Tag: West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

College of Law to Have Sole Management of Education Program

The West Virginia University College of Law is assuming exclusive management of the legal education program for lawyers in the state.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals requires West Virginia lawyers to earn 24 continuing legal education credits every two years. Until this month, the College of Law and the West Virginia State Bar worked together to provide the program.

College of Law Dean Gregory W. Bowman says the state bar supports transferring the program entirely to the college.

The university says the program offers live courses, multimedia seminars and online credit for more than 2,200 lawyers from West Virginia and 20 other states.

Two W.Va. Supreme Court Candidates Use Public Fundraising

Candidates for the West Virginia Supreme Court are spending in the six-figure range using public money.

In campaign finance reports, incumbent Justice Brent Benjamin accepted $483,500 from the state’s Public Campaign Finance Fund. He has spent about $468,000 since late last March and has $66,100 cash remaining.

Bill Wooton yielded $475,000 through public campaign financing. He has spent $107,800 and has $437,900 cash on hand. Benjamin and Wooton are airing TV ads.

Beth Walker reported raising $170,100 and a $250,000 loan from her husband. She has $347,400 cash left.

Darrell McGraw raised $52,900 and has $48,000 cash left.

Wayne King’s report wasn’t filed on the secretary of state’s website.

The five-way race will be nonpartisan and decided during the May 10 primary for the first time.

Temporary Panel to Hear W.Va. Justice's Appeal

A panel of judges has been appointed to hear an appeal from a state Supreme Court justice in a campaign financing case.

The panel was announced Wednesday after all the Supreme Court justices recused themselves from hearing the appeal of Justice Brent Benjamin.

The state Election Commission decided in January to certify Benjamin for public campaign financing. A Kanawha County judge overturned the decision, ruling that Benjamin’s campaign missed filing and campaign contribution reporting deadlines.

The Supreme Court says appointed to hear the case are senior status judges Thomas Keadle and James Holliday and circuit judges John Hatcher, James Mazzone and Thomas Evans.

The appeal will be heard on March 23 at 10 a.m. and will be carried live on the West Virginia Channel and steamed live on WVPB’s YouTube Channel.

Candidate Looks for Stay While Appealing Campaign Finance Decision

Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin has filed for a stay in his case over state public campaign finance dollars.

On Friday, a Kanawha County Circuit judge ruled the State Election Commission had erred in awarding Benjamin the public monies last month and reversed the decision to award Benjamin the money.

The lawsuit was filed by fellow Supreme Court candidate Beth Walker who had challenged Benjamin’s qualifying donations before the SEC. 

In the filing requesting the stay, Benjamin asks the judge to delay the effects of his ruling while the campaign files an appeal with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The filing says there is little precedent for the court to follow because the statutes setting out the public campaign financing code are so new and haven’t been challenged. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, no appeal had been filed with the Supreme Court. 

Walker has also filed suit over the qualifying donations approved by the SEC that were entered by another Supreme Court candidate, Bill Wooten. That case is still pending in Kanawha County Circuit Court. 

Judge Hears Appeal of Supreme Court Campaign Finance Ruling

A Kanawha County judge has heard arguments in a case challenging the $500,000 of public campaign finance money state Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin was awarded for his re-election bid.

Beth Walker, who is running against Benjamin, originally challenged the public financing with the State Election Commission. The Morgantown lawyer argued that technical issues should have prevented Benjamin from being eligible for the money.

The SEC unanimously approved public financing for the Benjamin campaign earlier this month over Walker’s objections. Walker’s campaign appealed the ruling and is asking Circuit Judge Tod Kaufman to overturn it.

The Supreme Court election takes place on May 10.

Kaufman heard the oral arguments on Friday and said he would rule within several days.

 

W.Va. Chief Justice Published Pattern Jury Instructions

West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Menis Ketchum has published pattern jury instructions for use in civil cases in the state’s courts.

The Herald-Dispatch reports the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia made the announcement Wednesday.

After five years of research, Ketchum says he believes the uniformed set of instructions will help civil trials run more efficiently, and put less of a workload on courts.

Ketchum says the instructions would be more understandable to jurors, judges and lawyers.

Webster County Circuit Judge Jack Alsop supervised the project and says he believes it would be a great benefit and assistance to juries.

Over 20 lawyers and judges from around the state had a hand in creating the instructions which cover 15 topics and could be expanded in the future.

Exit mobile version