Stephen Skinner Named WVAJ Member of the Year
August 5, 2014
Charleston, W.Va. – Eastern Panhandle attorney Stephen Skinner has been named 2014 Member of the Year by the West Virginia Association for Justice. Skinner was presented with the Stanley E. Preiser Award at the association’s annual convention in June. He is an attorney with the Skinner Law Firm in Charles Town. In 2012, Skinner was elected to represent the 67th District in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
“Stephen Skinner is a tireless advocate on behalf of his clients in the courtroom and behalf of all West Virginians in both Charleston and Washington, D. C. He has helped educate lawmakers, consumers and business owners about the importance of protecting access to our courts,” said Bernie Layne, immediate past president of WVAJ, who presented the award.
“For many years, he has worked on both the state and federal level to protect the rights of every West Virginia resident, worker and business owner—but lobbying from the sidelines wasn’t enough. In 2012 he ran for the West Virginia House of Delegates and won, and in just two legislative sessions, Stephen has become a leading voice in our legislature on consumer protection. No one is working harder than Stephen Skinner to protect our Seventh Amendment rights, and that is why the West Virginia Association for Justice is honored to name him our 2014 Member of the Year.”
The WVAJ Member of the Year award is named in honor of the association’s founder, Stanley E. Preiser.
“Being recognized by the West Virginia Association for Justice and receiving an award named for Stanley Preiser is one of the highlights of my career. I am very humbled to receive the award. So often, work is done and people don’t see it or they’re not aware of it,” said Skinner.
“It was inevitable that I would go to law school, but becoming a trial lawyer is a much different thing. My father led me down the path, but you have to make the discovery yourself. There is nothing more rewarding than standing up for people who are facing insurmountable odds. You give them a voice. You discover the power of the Seventh Amendment to hold big corporations and wrongdoers accountable. That’s when you become a trial lawyer. To be recognized by trial lawyers for the work that I’ve done and continue to do is a great honor.”
Skinner is a 1990 graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College and earned his law degree from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1994. He began his legal career in Charles Town and practiced with his father, John C. Skinner Jr., from 1994 – 1999. He then moved his practice to New York City, where he represented aviation disaster victims and others were catastrophically injured, including victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks. He returned to West Virginia in 2004 to practice with his father and brother at the Skinner Law Firm. His trial and appellate practice areas include catastrophic injury, consumer and products liability cases.
Skinner is also a human and civil rights advocate at the local, state and national level. He is the founder of Fairness West Virginia, a civil rights organization dedicated to LGBT rights. In recognition of that work, Skinner and the organization were awarded the 2011 Living the Dream Award for Human and Civil Rights by the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission.
The West Virginia Association for Justice represents more than 500 plaintiffs attorneys throughout West Virginia and in surrounding states. WVAJ members are committed to preserving and improving our civil justice system in order to ensure that any person who is injured by the misconduct and negligence of others can obtain justice in America’s courtrooms. WVAJ members work to protect West Virginia families by promoting safe workplaces, safe products, quality healthcare, a clean environment and corporate responsibility.
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