Stephen traveled to New Orleans in late March to judge the American Association for Justice’s Student Trial Advocacy Competition (STAC). STAC is an annual, nationwide mock trial competition for law students. This year’s batch of students was incredibly impressive, according to Stephen: “The law students were dynamic, well prepared, and amazingly composed.” The winners were...
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In March, Stephen gave a talk at the Virginia Trial Lawyers’ Association Conference, which was held at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Stephen spoke about representing diverse clients, especially in personal injury cases, and how to deal with avoiding unfair bias with juries. Andrew and his wife Kathy also attended the conference,...
While legalese can seem intimidating and difficult to understand, it serves an important purpose in the legal system. It ensures that legal documents are precise and accurate, leaving no room for confusion or ambiguity. Despite its complexity, lawyers are increasingly recognizing the importance of using plain language to make legal information more accessible to the...
As of March 2023, the West Virginia House of Delegates has passed a new PFAS protection act, and the Senate is considering passing it too. The bill “requires the DEP to identify and address PFAS sources impacting public water systems; requires facilities that have recently used PFAS chemicals to report their use to DEP, requires...
In late February, Stephen traveled to Phoenix, AZ, to present a Continuing Legal Education course at the Winter Meeting of the American Association for Justice. This national organization, which is over 75 years old, supports trial lawyers across the country by defending Americans’ right to trial by jury. They “fight every day to protect our...
In late December, 3M announced that it would stop manufacturing PFAS by 2025. If you’ve been following our coverage of PFAS for a while, you’ll know that this is a huge step forward for all of us. “PFAS” are a category of chemicals that have many uses in products as disparate as firefighting foam and...
Did you know that National Guard and Reserve service members are eligible for reduced interest rates when they’re on active duty? Unfortunately, they’re not always getting what they’re entitled to. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Reserve and National Guard members called to active duty are paying an extra $9 million in interest every...
In 2020, when most Skinner Law Firm employees were working from home because of the pandemic, Stephen and Andrew decided to finally start a renovation project that had been on their “one day” list. Since clients and mediators and court reporters and opposing counsel were not coming to the office every day, they knew this...