Patricia Bello

Peter G. Markham provides general counsel and civil litigation services to businesses, health care providers and insurers, and public officials and state agencies. Clients requiring government relations assistance benefit from Peter’s substantial experience in state government. From 2012 to 2017, Peter served as General Counsel to former West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin. Peter leads the firm’s Broadband and Appellate Advocacy practice teams. Recent victories include: IPI, I...

Area of Emphasis Mychal Schulz is a shareholder in the Litigation, Employment & Labor Services, and Energy & Natural Resources groups of Babst Calland. Mr. Schulz has extensive experience litigating matters in state and federal courts throughout West Virginia. He has been lead trial counsel in both state and federal courts on a variety of matters, including employment, premises liability, insurance bad faith and coverage, commercial, officers and directors liability, ERISA, product li...

Steven R. Hardman is a partner in the Parkersburg office and a member of the Real Estate Group. He concentrates his practice on commercial, corporate, real estate, and oil and gas law and also has significant experience in civil litigation, particularly product liability and the defense of mass litigation. Mr. Hardman has served as counsel to numerous banks and businesses, and has been involved in significant commercial transactions and commercial litigation. For more than 10 years, he has re...

J. Mark Adkins is a partner in the Charleston office of Bowles Rice and a member of the Business Litigation Practice Group. His primary areas of practice include business litigation, commercial and contract disputes, financial services/banking litigation, energy litigation, construction litigation, election law and products liability litigation. A native of Salt Rock, West Virginia, Mr. Adkins received his J.D. in 1997 from the West Virginia University College of Law, where he was a member of...

Areas of Emphasis Charles Saffer is senior counsel in the Energy and Natural Resources and Corporate and Commercial groups of Babst Calland. His practice is focused on real estate and mineral title matters for corporate clients within the commercial and oil and gas industries. He has experience in examining and certifying mineral titles in counties throughout West Virginia. Mr. Saffer has also represented property owners in commercial real estate transactions including leasing, acquisitions a...

Roger G. Hanshaw concentrates his legal practice on the environmental and technical issues that arise in business transactions, as well as regulatory compliance matters and litigation for a diverse client base. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame. This advanced science degree is critical in representing clients in the science driven field of environmental law. Roger is a certified professional parliamentarian and regularly counsels government bodies and nonprofit o...

Robert L. Massie is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Insurance Law, Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, Product Liability Litigation - Defendants and Railroad Law. Robert L., who practices law in Huntington, West Virginia, has been recognized since 2008. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Robert L. is held by other top lawyers in the same ...

James V. Kelsh is a partner in the Charleston office of Bowles Rice and leads the firm's Infrastructure and Public Utilities practice areas. He is involved with entities involved on all sides of broadband, utility scale solar, water, sewer, electric, telecommunications, natural gas, solid waste, local government, and motor carrier services. He focuses his practice on representing clients before the Public Service Commission of West Virginia. He also provides extensive assistance by advising c...

Aaron C. Boone is a partner in the Parkersburg office at Bowles Rice and leads the firm's Insurance Defense Group. He is a trial lawyer who concentrates his practice in the areas of extra-contractual/coverage, liability claims, business disputes, and trust & estate litigation. Mr. Boone received his J.D. in 2002 from the West Virginia University College of Law, where he was a member of the Order of Barristers, the National Moot Court Team and the Marilyn E. Lugar Trial Association. He ear...

Tom Heywood has significant experience in health care, banking and corporate/commercial law, and is frequently called upon by clients and community leaders for advice on business matters related to acquisitions, divestitures and other transactional matters. An experienced facilitator, he regularly assists businesses and organizations in the strategic planning process. As a former Chief of Staff to the Honorable Gaston Caperton, Governor of the State of West Virginia, Tom has extensive experie...