"Equal justice under law is not merely a caption on the facade of the Supreme Court Building. It is perhaps the most inspiring ideal of our society."
- Lewis Powell, Jr., during his tenure as President of the American Bar Association

Effective & Efficient Legal Help

Legal Aid of West Virginia (LAWV) is a private, not-for-profit corporation established for the purpose of providing civil legal assistance and advocacy to low-income residents of West Virginia. LAWV works closely with state and local var associations, social service providers and government agencies to make sure clients are linked with those in their community who can help them with their legal and other needs. Effective and efficient help is LAWV's goal, whether it is providing legal assistance for an average of approximately $400 per case, or facilitating other direct services for the client through LAWV's other programs or through its network of community social service organizations.

The Campaign for Legal Aid

West Virginia lawyers created legal aid decades ago to meet a serious need in our community: the need to ensure that those who could not afford legal help, were still able to receive it. The Campaign for Legal Aid was launched by local attorneys in 2002 with the goal of making the Campaign the primary focus of charitable giving in our legal community.

Your contribution to the Campaign for Legal Aid, and the contributions of others like you, will help to ensure that low-income West Virginians will gain and keep access to justice. Please contact a Campaign Committee Member or Legal Aid to make your pledge.

The Need for Support

Keeping the doors open to legal aid for the poor represents a major challenge for the justice system. Consider:

  • The poor population of West Virginia numbers over 315,000 person, fully 18% of the state's population. Almost 1 in every four children live in households where the income falls below the poverty line. More than 31,000 elderly people live in poverty in West Virginia.


  • There is only one legal aid lawyer for every 7,900 poor person in West Virginia. This compares to about one attorney for every 368 persons in the general population.


  • The American Bar Association estimates that tens of thousands of low-income households in West Virginia will face at least one or more problems annually where legal intervention would help, but for which no legal help is available.


  • Each year LAWV is able to help only about 8% of those low-income people eligible for legal assistance, simply because it lacks the resources to do more.


    • "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere"
    - Dr. Martin Luther King

    The Need for Justice

    Annually, LAWV helps more than 9,500 poor persons. Thanks to the work of LAWV attorneys and advocates, your pledge of only $400 ov the two year Campaign will provide legal services to help:

  • For a young mother and her two children to secure protection from her violent and abusive spouse.


  • For a severely disabled child to receive critical medical care.


  • For a woman with a terminally ill husband to understand the benefits she was entitled to so that she could keep her children in their home and feed them upon her husband's death.


  • For a young mother to stay in vocational training so that she could learn the skills to find a good job and move off of welfare.


  • For a man with a mental illness living in Sharpe Hospital to briefly leave the hospital to attend his beloved mother's funeral.


  • For a younger woman living in a nursing home because of multiple medical needs, including early dementia, to be protected from financial exploitation by her husband, who was trying to take away her claim to any of her assets.

    • LAWV provides desperately needed legal help to the poorest members of our society. Over 80% of LAWV clients are women, most with children. Many of LAWV's clients have jobs - they are the "working poor." A substantial number are elderly and many are disabled. Without LAWV, they would have no where else to turn, finding themselves unable to cope with our complex system of justice.

    To watch the Campaign for Legal Aid video click here.


    Campaign for Legal Aid Leadership Committee 2009-2010

    Co-Chairs:


    John Cooper, Esq.
    Cooper & Preston PLLC

    Tyler Dinsmore, Esq.
    Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC

    Andy Arbogast
    Spilman Thomas & Battle PLLC

    Jeff Bowers
    Jeff Bowers Law Office

    Terry Butcher
    Butcher & Butcher

    Gretchen Callas
    Jackson Kelly

    Steve Davis
    Breckenridge, Davis, Sproles & Chapman PLLC

    Paul Farrell
    Green, Ketchum, Bailey, Walker, Farrell & Tweel

    James Geary
    Geary & Geary

    Diana Johnson
    Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love

    John R. Lukens
    Legal Aid of West Virginia

    John McGhee
    Kay Casto & Chaney PLLC

    Kate McCoy
    Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, PLLC

    Hunter Mullins
    Mullins & McGuire, PLLC

    Mike Mullens
    Mike Mullens & Associates

    Brace Mullett
    Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP

    Charles Piccirillo
    Shaffer & Shaffer PLLC

    Allen Riley
    Allen Riley Law Office

    Joyce E. Stewart
    Joyce E. Stewart Law Office

    David Webb
    David H. Webb Attorney at Law

    James Wright
    Steptoe & Johnson


    Contact Us

    Campaign for Legal Aid
    922 Quarrier Street
    Charleston, WV 25301
    (304) 343-3013 ext. 2154

    "Never has there been a wider gulf between the need for legal services and the provision of legal services. All over the country, people are being forced into the street for lack of a lawyer."
    - Justice Sandra Day O'Connor