Our team - currently 25 strong - is comprised of some of the best litigators in the country, fierce advocates, dedicated, knowledgeable support staff, and a caring, empathic social work team. We work across a number of legal and advocacy issues, including (but never limited to), consumer rights, civil rights, the rights of incarcerated individuals, employment, immigration, and special education.
Some of our recent achievements include:
- Working in coalition with our clients, West Virginia labor groups, the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, and Legal Aid of West Virginia (to the extent that their rules allowed them to participate) to challenge and defeat a well-organized effort to dismantle our state’s unemployment safety net. The proposed cut of more than half the weeks of unemployment eligibility stalled in the House of Delegates due to mass resistance in which our clients were integral.
- Our prison litigation team settled a landmark class-action lawsuit against the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation regarding the medical and mental healthcare being provided in ten state regional jails. The resulting settlement enables MSJ to review the implementation of a new medical services contract.
- Our special education team partnered with several national organizations to challenge the failure of the state’s largest school district, Kanawha County Schools, to provide behavioral supports to children with disabilities, resulting in unnecessary suspensions and expulsions from school.
- The employment team represented a transgender man in the first case before the West Virginia Human Rights Commission to find in favor of a Plaintiff for discrimination based on transgender status.
- We sued to enjoin the establishment of publicly funded charter schools (and served as amici in a related attempt to prevent the establishment of a harmful private school voucher program).
- Currently, we serve as co-counsel in a federal lawsuit challenging the state's near-total abortion ban (passed in fall 2022).
To reach our office with questions or to inquire about legal services, call (304) 344-3144 or visit our website at mountainstatejustice.org.
