Mr. Hicks' primary areas of practice are mediation/arbitration. His former practice consisted entirely of litigation with a focus on product liability, premises liability, construction law, employment law, corporate and commercial litigation, insurance law cases, medical malpractice defense, and higher education law. Other areas of personal interest or community service relevant to my mediation practice include:
West Virginia State Bar, President, 1998 - 1999 - Representative, West Virginia State Bar Board of Governors, 1993 - 1996.
Received the Justicia Officium Award by the West Virginia University College of Law in May, 2021. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the law faculty in recognition of outstanding contributions and service to the legal profession.
2019 Martin Luther King Holiday Commission "Governor's Living the Dream Award" recipient given to the "person who best exemplifies all of the characteristics of justice, scholarship, sharing of self, human and civil rights, and advocacy of peace; with a recognizable sense of civic awareness and public service."
Appointed by Governor Joe Manchin to the Board of Governors of Concord University, serving eight-year term from 2009 to 2017. Chairman of the Board of Governors 2013 to 2017
Elected by the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Humanities Council to become a member of that board in 2015, now serving as Treasurer of the Council
Created a fundraising dinner for retiring Professor Franklin D. Cleckley at the Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences in March, 2013 raising over $33,000 in his honor toward the Innocence Project, providing legal assistance for wrongly convicted inmates
Appointed by West Virginia Governor Cecil Underwood to serve on the Higher Education Policy Commission, created by the West Virginia Legislature to establish policy for all state-supported colleges and universities, and then reappointed by Governor Bob Wise to a full term, serving from 2000 to 2007 and rising to become Vice-Chairman of the Commission
Board of Directors for the Legal Aid Society of Charleston, 1990-1996
Charleston Economic and Community Development Corporation board member
Chairman of the Kanawha County Housing and Redevelopment Authority
Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the First Baptist Church of Charleston, 1990 to 2002, and a member of the Board from 1986
Congregation President and Board of Trustees Chairman for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Charleston for two terms from 2007 to 2010, and a member of the Board for two one-year terms beginning 2005
Board of Directors of the West Virginia Bar Foundation, and Chairman of the IOLTA Committee of the Bar Foundation, 2000 to 2006, which administered tens of million dollars in funds that are contributed from interest on lawyers' trust accounts to provide legal services to the poor
Case Experience
Automotive
Civil Rights
Commercial/Business
Consumer Fraud
Contract Disputes
Discrimination
Divorce (High Asset)
Education
Employment
Energy Sector (Oil/Gas)
Engineering
Environmental
Family Businesses
Health Care
Industrial
Insurance
Legal Malpractice
Lemon Law
Medical Devices
Medical Malpractice
Mining
Nursing Homes
Personal Injury
Premises Liability
Product Liability
Professional Liability
Professional Malpractice
Professional Negligence
Religious Institutions
Sexual Harassment
Title Disputes
Torts
Transportation
Wrongful Death
Education
Washington and Lee University, 1974 - 1976
West Virginia University, B.A. in Political Science, 1978
West Virginia University College of Law, J.D., 1981
Memberships & Affiliations
American Bar Association, House of Delegates, 1998 - 1999
American College of Trial Lawyers, Fellow, 2007
West Virginia Bar Foundation, Fellow, 2005
American Bar Foundation, Fellow, 2011
Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, Member
American Inns of Court, Judge John A. Field, Jr. Chapter, Charter Member as Master of the Bench, 2002
DRI, Member
Appointed by the Honorable Elliott E. Maynard, then-Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, to serve on a commission to devise standard jury instructions for West Virginia cases, 2000
Kanawha County Bar Association, President, 1988 - 1989
Licensed Contractor, WV Department of Labor, License number WV057302
Best Lawyers in America, Commercial Litigation and Mediation