Letter to the Editor: Two outstanding in their fields
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I am writing to salute two citizens of the area whom I think are very deserving of recognition and who often labor insufficiently appreciated.
I practiced law for 38 years, through 2010. During that time, I met, worked with and became friends with many fine lawyers around the state of West Virginia and elsewhere. Many were the cream of the crop, some were journeymen lawyers, but all filled a need that people have for assistance in resolving their problems.
Two lawyers stand out to me because they not only possess singular talent and dedication, they also found a niche that was being considerably underserved by the bar in general. In both cases, they spent hundreds of hours and perhaps thousands of dollars educating themselves to be able to serve clients with needs in the particular areas in which they have chosen to practice.
All of us who have approached, reached or passed the Biblical three score and ten have concern over what is going to happen to us if and when we are no longer able to take care of ourselves. Some of us have families who are able to step in and fulfill our needs; some of us do not. Regardless which classification we fall into, there is a need to plan ahead for care after we are unable to care for ourselves. Fortunately, there are some techniques available under the law to maximize availability of benefits to fill in those holes our personal finances leave open.
It has been my great honor and pleasure to have known and worked with Gerald W. Townsend, of the Parkersburg law firm Fluharty & Townsend Attorneys for more than fifty years. He has taken it upon himself to educate himself on the arcane field of law known as "Eldercare" and uses his talents and education to assist people to maximize their resources to provide adequate long-term care for themselves, their spouses and their families and conserve, to the extent possible, hard-earned assets representing the fruits of a lifetime of labor. He also takes the time to publish a regular column in this newspaper giving examples of how these techniques work, which columns have the result of causing readers to consider the issues raised and, if appropriate, seek counsel and advice how best to structure their finances to provide the best custodial care possible.
Another area of the law that underserved for many years was the relationship between employers and employees. For many years, since West Virginia is a so-called "at-will employment" state, employers often took shameful advantage of employees and employees felt themselves helpless to redress workplace wrongs. While it is true that in the past 40 years the doctrine of "at-will employment" has had limits placed on it that provide employees with some remedies for workplace wrongdoing, still an employee often feels helpless to maintain basic human dignity in the face of such wrongdoing.
Walt Auvil was born and raised in Parkersburg and for the past thirty or more years has specialized in employment law from the viewpoint of the employee. He has been the Chair of the West Virginia State Bar Employment Law Committee, is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, has been instrumental in forming and supporting the West Virginia Employment Lawyers Association and in supporting the National Employment Law Institute. His law firm reorganized itself in 2015 as "The Employment Law Center, PLLC," and he is fortunate to be joined in that practice by his son, Kirk Auvil, and Anthony Brunicardi. Walt has been recognized by his peers as a Super Lawyer by one of the leading legal talent assessors, Thomson Reuters. And, most importantly, employees who believed themselves to have been aggrieved in the workplace have a place to go for a sympathetic and knowledgeable assessment of their rights and remedies.
Gerry Townsend and Walt Auvil, we salute you.
Richard A. Hayhurst
Parkersburg