2025 WVAJ Mid-Winter Convention and Seminar
Our Seminar Faculty
Marjorie Aaron
Marjorie Aaron is a professor of practice emeritus at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where she taught courses in negotiation, client counseling, trial practice, mediation, and decision analysis. She also served as director of the school’s Center for Practice, overseeing its trial practice program and coaching student teams. She is the author of the books Client Science: Advice for Lawyers on Counseling Clients Through Bad News and Other Legal Realities and Risk and Rigor: A Lawyer’s Guide to Decision Trees for Assessing Cases and Advising Clients as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles. Prior to joining the University of Cincinnati faculty, she was executive director of the Harvard Law School’s program on negotiation. Her private practice has included mediation and arbitration, and she is a member of the American Arbitration Association and the CPR Center for Dispute Resolution. Professor Aaron earned a B. A. from Princeton University and earned her J. D. from the Harvard Law School.
Judge Jennifer Bailey
Judge Jennifer Bailey has served as a judge for the Kanawha County Circuit Court since her appointment to the bench in 2002. She was in private practice in Charleston prior to her appointment. Judge Bailey worked as session counsel in the West Virginia House of Delegates for 11 legislative sessions, and for the West Virginia State Senate for one session. In 1993 she was the first full-time attorney for the West Virginia State Senate, where she served as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee primarily. Judge Bailey is a graduate of Hollins College and earned her J. D. from the West Virginia University College of Law. She also studied at University of Paris (Sorbonne) and l’institut d’etudes politique de Paris.
Randall Benson, M.D.
Dr. Randall Benson is the president and medical director for the Center for Neurological Studies located in Boca Raton, Florida. Dr. Benson is one of the country’s leading neurologists and has gained global recognition for his development of new, more effective treatments for incapacitating brain disorders including traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and strokes. He utilizes advanced, functional MRI methods, which have increased understanding of brain function and disease. Dr. Benson pioneered the use of functional Magnetic Imaging (fMRI) while he was the dual research fellow in behavioral neurology and MRI at Harvard Medical School and the NMR Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has written and lectured extensively on his research and treatment methods. Dr. Benson is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and earned his medical degree from Hahnemann University in Philadelphia.
Jamie Bordas
Jamie Bordas is the managing partner of Bordas and Bordas, which has law offices in three states. His diverse practice includes trucking crashes, insurance bad faith, toxic torts, medical malpractice, personal injury, mass torts, and oil and gas. He is a member of the West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio bars as well as the federal trial and appellate courts in those states. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and earned his J. D. from the university’s law school. He is a board member of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
Steven Broadwater, Jr.
Steven Broadwater opened his Oak Hill practice, Broadwater Law Group, in 2002. His practice is consumer law, representing state residents under both the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act and the federal consumer protection laws. Prior to opening his own practice, Steven was an attorney with the Fayetteville firm of Hamilton, Burgess, Young, and Pollard, where he worked with the late Ralph Young on consumer claims. In 2019, Steven was awarded WVAJ’s first Ralph Young Memorial Award for Consumer Advocacy. In 2021 he received the Kaufman Award from Legal Aid of West Virginia in recognition of the hundreds of hours of pro bono work representing West Virginians in bankruptcy and consumer claims.
Matthew Brummond
Matthew Brummond is the lead appellate attorney for West Virginia Public Defender Services Appellate Division. In that role he not only trains and assists the other appellate attorneys, but also continues to represent indigent prisoners through habeas corpus in circuit court as well as appeals to the West Virginia Supreme Court. He began his legal career as an attorney in the appellate division of Kanawha County’s 13th Judicial Circuit Public Defender Corporation. Matthew is a graduate of Beloit College in Wisconsin and earned his J. D. from the West Virginia University College of Law.
Sean Claggatt
Sean Claggatt opened his Las Vegas law firm, now Claggatt, Sykes, and Garza, in 2005 with just one client and one employee. Today the firm has offices in Las Vegas, Reno, New York City, and Hartford, Connecticut and has current cases in 33 states, including West Virginia. Sean is one of the country’s leading trial lawyers. After conducting thousands of focus groups, he worked with his brother to develop software that allowed attorneys to track trends and patterns from these groups. The compiled data and “Big Data” analysis have helped determine probable case value. This has resulted in Sean obtaining more than $600 million in verdicts over the past five years. His consulting work with his partners, John and Alicia Campbell, has resulted in another $6.5 billion in others’ cases. The three combined their knowledge in the best seller, The Big Data Revolution Is Here: JuryBall. Sean lectures extensively to trial lawyers nationally. Sean earned a B. A. in political science from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and is a graduate of the UNLV Boyd School of Law. In 2017 the Nevada Justice Association named him Trial Lawyer of the Year.
Gary Collias
Gary Collias has served as appellate counsel for West Virginia Public Defender Services since 2021. When in private practice, he focused on labor law, consumer bankruptcy, plaintiffs’ personal injury law, and federal and state criminal defense law. In 2016, he was named the West Virginia Southern District Criminal Justice Act Panel Attorney of the Year. Gary earned a B. A. in political science from Marshall University and earned his J. D. from the West Virginia University College of Law. He served as a member of the West Virginia State Election Commission, including serving as its chair 2016 – 2018.
Dante’ diTrapano
Dante’ diTrapano is a partner with the Charleston firm of Calwell, Luce, diTrapano. His practice areas include personal injury, wrongful death, medical malpractice, products liability, trucking wrecks, inmate injuries and premises liability. He earned an undergraduate degree from West Virginia State University and first worked in the legal industry as an investigator for his father’s law firm, DiTrapano and Jackson. That work led him to law school, and he earned his J. D. from John Marshall Law School. He is also a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law’s Trial Advocacy College.
Shelli Garson
Shelli Garson is a senior vice president and director of research and analytics for EmotionTrac Legal. She is a national leader on emotion analytics and how that factors in decision making. Shelli earned a Master’s degree in analytics and applied social science research from the City University of New York. She graduated from New York University with a B. S. in international marketing. She has been an adjunct instructor for several institutions including the New School for Social Research.
David Harris
David Harris owns West Virginia Crash Investigations/Harris Enterprises and is an accredited traffic crash reconstructionist by the Accreditation Commission for Accident Reconstruction (ACTRA). David earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from West Virginia University-Parkersburg, and is a graduate of both the West Virginia Corrections Academy and the West Virginia State Police Academy. He worked as a St. Albans, West Virginia, police officer for more than 27 years. He has completed hundreds of hours of advanced continuing education in accident reconstruction, investigating commercial vehicle crashes, computer-aided collision diagramming, and insurance fraud investigation.
Daniel Hinkle
Daniel Hinkle is the senior state affairs counsel for the American Association for Justice. In that role he not only works with AAJ, but also with trial lawyers and trial lawyer associations nationwide to protect the constitutional right to trial by jury and civil rights. His work includes continuing legal education on emerging legal issues, research and analysis of proposed state and federal legislation, and testimony before state legislatures and Congress. Daniel has become an expert on automated driving policy. He works with trial lawyers on how to best ensure that statutory and case law protects fair access to the courts when dealing with the “future of transportation.” Daniel is a graduate of Sewanee-The University of the South. He earned his J. D. from Washington University – St. Louis.
Jordan Laird
Jordan Laird opened his Wheeling practice, Laird Law, in 2021. His practice areas include insurance, personal injury, employment law, and consumer laws. Prior to opening his practice, he worked for two other Wheeling civil plaintiffs’ firms. Jordan represented District 1 on the West Virginia State Bar’s Young Lawyers Board for four years, and he is a board member of the West Virginia Association for Justice. Jordan earned a B. A. from Duquesne University, and he is a graduate of the Charlotte School of Law.
Christopher McCabe
Christopher McCabe is an attorney in the Pittsburgh office of Bordas and Bordas. His practice areas include commercial trucking accidents, automobile accidents, construction defect injury claims, and product liability cases. For the first 15 years of his legal career, Chris worked as a defense attorney for the insurance industry and corporations. Chris is a graduate of Dickinson College and earned his J. D. from the University of Duquesne College of Law.
Ben Salango
Ben Salango has more than 26 years of experience in personal injury litigation. For eight years he practiced as a civil defense attorney prior to opening his own civil plaintiffs’ practice in 2006. That firm became Salango Law in 2021, and his practice areas include medical malpractice, personal injury, school abuse, and wrongful death. Several cases have been featured in national news media. Ben is a graduate of West Virginia University and earned his J. D. from the WVU College of Law. Ben has served as a commissioner on the Kanawha County Commission since 2017. He is a board member of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
Matthew Stonestreet
Matthew Stonestreet is an attorney with The Giatras Law Firm in Charleston. He has a diverse practice in both civil and criminal law, with an emphasis on consumer and privacy law. Prior to entering private practice, Matthew worked as an assistant attorney general for the West Virginia Attorney General’s Consumer and Antitrust Division. Matthew is a graduate of Concord University and earned his J. D. from the West Virginia University College of Law. In 2020, he received the Ralph Young Consumer Advocate of the Year Award from the West Virginia Association for Justice. He is a WVAJ board member.
Judge Phillip Stowers
Judge Phillip Stowers has served as a judge for the Putnam County Circuit Court since his election to the bench in 2008. He is also chairman of the West Virginia Juvenile Justice Commission. Judge Stowers began his legal career with the Huntington firm of Huddleston and Bolen before moving his private practice to a Charleston firm in 1989. In 1991 he opened his practice, Stowers and Associates, and focused on civil litigation. He has also served as counsel in the West Virginia State Senate as well as a special assistant to the West Virginia Attorney General. Judge Stowers is a graduate of Morehead State University and earned his J. D. from the West Virginia University College of Law.
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CONTACT WVAJ
Telephone: (304) 344 - 0692
Fax: (304) 343 - 7926
WVAJ OFFICE
208 Capitol Street, Suite 100
Charleston, WV 25301
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