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22 hours ago
April’s MoreThanALawyer recognizes a Wood County lawyer who reacted to the needs of the homeless in his community by immersing himself in those organizations addressing homelessness and through his practice of law assisting West Virginians with employment issues. Here is the story of Walt Auvil and his firm, The Employment Law Center, PLLC.
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Upon graduating from law school and returning to Parkersburg, Walt recognized the significant homelessness issue in his community and immediately determined he wanted to make a difference. Walt joined the local Salvation Army Advisory Board and later served as its Board President. He then served as President of the Parkersburg Area Coalition for the Homeless, which operates the House To Home Day Shelter. Walt credits representing workers in the field of employment law with opening his eyes to the problems surrounding housing insecurity: “Many clients struggle with housing after an unexpected layoff or termination. I saw the effect this had on them and often on their children as well. Anything we can do as a community to address housing insecurity lifts us all up and makes our community a stronger, more attractive place.” As such, his practice became focused largely upon those West Virginians with employment issues.
To further assist West Virginians with employment obstacles, Walt became a member of the Board of Workplace Fairness (www.workplacefairness.org/) a national non-profit that believes that “fair treatment of workers is sound public policy and good business practice, and that free access to comprehensive, unbiased information about workers' rights - without legal jargon - is an essential ingredient in any fair workplace”. He served in that capacity for 20 years. Walt also chaired the West Virginia State Bar Employment Law Committee for many years and was the first West Virginia attorney to be inducted as a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. He is also a founder of the West Virginia Employment Lawyers Association, the State affiliate of the National Employment Lawyers Association.
Walt resides in Parkersburg with his wife, Michele Rusen, who serves as the Chief Public Defender in Parkersburg. Thank you, Walt, for being MORE than a lawyer in attacking homelessness at its core. Your community and your Bar are grateful! Walt was nominated by Kate Roberts White of Legal Aid of West Virginia.
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What is our MoreThanALawyer campaign all about? It highlights all the ways West Virginia’s attorneys impact lives within and outside of their profession. West Virginia's lawyers are service members, volunteers, mentors, coaches, musicians and committed advocates. In all of these roles, they make a difference in their community. Each month we share a MoreThanALawyer story on West Virginia State Bar’s Facebook and Twitter pages. ... See MoreSee Less
1 week ago
Wellness Wednesday, April 12, 2021
Wellness Week is May 3-7, 2021.Wellness Wednesday, April 21, 2021:
We encourage everyone to participate in Wellness Week, May 3 -7, 2021. Also, don't forget to register for the FREE CLE: "Path to Lawyer Well-being Webinar" on May 6, 2021.
For more information or to register, go to: mywvbar.org/civicrm/event/info?id=549&reset=1 ... See MoreSee Less