B&W PLLC Blooms amidst April's Showers
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As they say, " April showers bring May flowers," so too do they provide even more opportunities for the attorneys at Bailey & Wyant PLLC to bloom. The month of April has come and gone but not without our attorneys making their mark. Please continue to read the latest news for you, and as always we thank you for your continued support.
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Bailey & Wyant PLLC's Equity Member, Jennifer E. Tully
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Bailey & Wyant PLLC is proud to announce it's newest equity member, Jennifer E. Tully. Jennifer E. Tully practices in Bailey & Wyant, PLLC’s Charleston office, and is a lifelong West Virginia resident. She is a 2000 graduate of Emory & Henry College in Emory, VA with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management with a Concentration in Accounting. At Emory & Henry, she was actively involved in the Blue & Gold Society, where she served as an ambassador of the college and met with prospective students and their parents. Jennifer graduated from West Virginia University College of Law in 2003. While attending WVU College of Law, she was actively involved in the student life and received a CALI award.
Prior to joining the firm, Jennifer was In House, General Counsel and Director of Human Resources for Employer’s Innovative Network. Jennifer was a litigation attorney with Pullin, Fowler, Flanagan, Brown & Poe, PLLC for 10 years, where she concentrated on the areas of civil rights defense, employment law and education law. Prior to that, she was a law clerk from the Honorable Circuit Judge Charles M. Vickers in Fayetteville, WV.
Jennifer has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star from 2014-2018 and has achieved an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell. She is an active member of West Virginia Women Attorneys, the Kanawha County Bar Association, and the Leadership Council of Legal Diversity. Jennifer is also admitted to practice before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, and the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
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Bailey & Wyant PLLC obtains Summary Judgment
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Bailey & Wyant PLLC Member, Jordan K. Herrick and Associate Adam K. Strider
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Member Jordan K. Herrick, and Associate Adam K. Strider obtained summary judgment on behalf of various medical care providers at Mount Olive Correctional Complex. The plaintiff alleged that his Eighth Amendment rights were being violated by not being prescribed a Direct-Acting Antiviral drugs to treat his chronic Hepatitis C.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia found that the plaintiff was not significantly injured at the hands of the Defendants and that the Defendants had not acted with deliberate indifference so as to violate the plaintiff’s Eighth Amendment rights.
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West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellows Dinner
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Managing Member, Charles R. Bailey attends the 25th Annual Fellows Dinner
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Bailey & Wyant PLLC's Managing Member, Charles R. Bailey attended the West Virginia Bar Foundation's 25th Annual Fellow Dinner. The 25th Annual Fellows Dinner recognized those attorneys and judges whose professional, public, and private careers have demonstrated outstanding dedication to the welfare of their communities and honorable service to the legal profession. This year Charles Bailey sponsored 2023 inductee, Rodney C. Windom of Harrisville.
The Bar Foundation has celebrated more than thirty years of service since its incorporation as a non-profit charitable entity here in West Virginia on December 30, 1988.
The Bar Foundation, the philanthropic organization for the legal profession and justice system in West Virginia, has several responsibilities and programs in which it is involved. Its primary mission is to make grants to organizations that provide legal services to low income citizens and that improve the administration of justice, including the Public Service Scholarship to a worthy student at the West Virginia University College of Law.
The Bar Foundation Board of Directors also selects the Bar Foundation Fellows, who are outstanding lawyers and members of the judiciary. Approximately 400 individuals have received this high honor out of more than 7,000 judges and lawyers in the state of West Virginia. The Fellows have joint activities with the state’s members of the American Bar Foundation Fellows, since most ABF Fellows are also WV Bar Foundation Fellows. Mr. Charles R. Bailey was inducted in 2022.
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Bailey & Slotnick PLLC and Bailey & Wyant PLLC support the YWCA and the 2023 Race to End Racism
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The 2023 YWCA's Race to End Racism was held on Saturday, April 29th in Charleston. It was a beautiful day to walk or run with the Charleston Community for a great cause.
Pictured from Left to Right are: Marketing Director, Tracey Wilson, Member David Mincer, Jack and Jenny Sizemore, Associate Celeste Webb and Brooks Crislip.
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Several members at Bailey & Wyant PLLC, and Bailey & Slotnick PLLC attended the 2023 West Virginia State University Black & Gold Gala. The event was the University's 9th Annual Gala, and held at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Pictured from Left to Right: Charles and Peggy Bailey, Samuel and Juliet Bloom, Heather Hutchens, Ariana Velasquez, Adam Strider, Marc and Ellen Slotnick, Tracey Wilson.
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The article this month focuses on the recent decision of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in the matter of State ex rel. W. Va. Univ. Hosps., Inc. v. Gaujot (Mar. 31, 2023). West Virginia University Hospitals (WVUH) was sued by the estate of an individual who passed away, alleging that two emergency room physicians were negligent and that WVUH could be held liable under a theory of ostensible agency liability. WVUH filed a motion to dismiss that was converted into a motion for summary judgment based upon West Virginia Code § 55-7B-9(g). This code section specifically provides that health care providers may not be held vicariously liable for the acts of a nonemployee pursuant to a theory of ostensible agency unless the alleged agent does not maintain professional liability insurance covering the medical injury which is the subject of the action in the aggregate amount of at least $1 million for each occurrence. Here, WVUH argued that there was only occurrence and that a policy with $1.5 million in coverage was provided through a BRIM policy that insured the two physicians as employees of the West Virginia University Board of Governors. The Plaintiff argued that this statutory provision only applied if each physician had $1 million in coverage. Ultimately, the Circuit Court agreed with Plaintiff and denied the motion.
On interlocutory appeal, which the Supreme Court of Appeals sua sponte converted to a petition for writ of prohibition (which could be the subject of its own newsletter article), the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the lower court. In finding the lower court erred, the Supreme Court of Appeals found that it was improper for the lower court not reconciling its reading of West Virginia Code § 55-7B-9(g) with the BRIM statutes. Specifically, the Supreme Court of Appeals examined the language in relevant portions of the West Virginia Code and found that the defendant-physicians are insured per occurrence in an amount in excess of $1 million dollars – an amount that the Legislature has deemed adequate to cover damages resulting from a single medical injury, up to and including death. When reading the BRIM statutes in their entirety, The Court found that it is clear that the BRIM statutes dictate coverage by occurrence, not by individual defendant. Therefore, the Court held “the BRIM statutes preclude a reading of West Virginia Code § 55-7B-9(g) that requires BRIM to write separate policies in excess of $1 million dollars for these defendant-physicians. The agents have the requisite coverage by legislative design, and under the facts of this case WVUH is properly insulated from ostensible agency liability.” Thus, the Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s decision and held that WVUH was “properly insulated from ostensible agency liability.”
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Charles R. Bailey pictured with WVU Running Back, CJ Donaldson
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The mission of the West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is to provide the means to empower student-athletes to develop as leaders and achieve their full potential academically, athletically and personally. As an integral part of WVU, the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is committed to supporting the broader mission of the University through the integration of athletics in the academic community.
The Mountaineer Scholarship Fund serves as the philanthropic avenue to Mountaineer Athletic Club (MAC) Annual Fund support. Gifts to the fund provide scholarship support to WVU student-athletes in all varsity sports.
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Discovery of Social Media and Cautions From Lawyer Displinary Board
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Member Jordan K. Herrick and Associate Samuel M. Bloom address the uses of Social Media in the court room in the 2023 Spring Edition of the DTCWV's Defender.
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Our philosophy is simple. We provide aggressive and effective legal representation, while being ever mindful of each client's individual needs, goals, and economic interests. No matter how complex or novel, our focus in a case is always to reach the right resolution for our client.
304.345.4222 CHARLESTON
304.233.3100 WHEELING
304.901.2000 MARTINSBURG
Sincerely,
Bailey & Wyant, PLLC
304-345-4222
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