Huntington, WV

Jan Dils

Jan Dils is the firm’s founder. She opened Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law, in Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1994 as the solo attorney/employee. Today, she has a skilled and compassionate team of more than 150 serving clients throughout West Virginia, with offices in Parkersburg, Beckley, Charleston, Huntington and Logan, as well as one additional office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her passion is fighting for people who are all too often left helpless at the hands of corporations, insurance companies, Big Pharma, and government red tape. Jan Dils, Attorneys at Law, has 25 years of experience in all forms of Social Security and Disability benefits, Veteran’s Benefits and Personal Injury cases. Jan is a graduate of Marietta College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Marketing and Economics. She then went on to receive her Master’s in Business Administration in 1991, and her law degree from West Virginia University in 1994. She is a member of the West Virginia Bar, the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR), and the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates. Recognitions include but are not limited to Who’s Who - Top Lawyer, National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys - Nationally Ranked: Top 10 Attorney Award, and National Trial Lawyers - Top 100 Trial Lawyers. The culture of any successful business is shaped from the top down. Jan has cultivated an environment of work pride, compassion and community service. She believes in work/life balance. For her that means spending time with her two boys and husband and hitting the gym at 5:00 a.m.

Bert Ketchum

Bert Ketchum was born and raised in Wayne County, West Virginia. He attended Ohio University where he received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree and was a member of Ohio’s varsity baseball team. After receiving his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School, Bert returned to Huntington and joined Greene Ketchum. He is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried numerous cases to jury verdict in the State and Federal courts of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio including, but not limited to, wrongful death, motor vehicle accidents, mining accidents, medical malpractice, workplace injuries and eminent domain. Bert’s appellate experience includes arguing his clients’ cases before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Bert was honored in 2007 as one of West Virginia’s 40 best and brightest professionals under 40. In 2009, he was selected for membership into The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Trial Lawyers. Since 2010, Bert has been selected for inclusion into Super Lawyers® for his personal injury practice and medical malpractice work. In March of 2010 and September 2013, Bert was sole trial counsel for his clients who received record breaking verdicts and judgments in West Virginia. Bert currently serves on the West Virginia Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission, the West Virginia Association for Justice Board of Governors and the WV Public Defender Corporation Board of Directors for the 6th and 24th Judicial Circuits. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice Opioid Litigation and Construction Site Accident Litigation groups and a past President of the Cabell County Bar Association. In addition to his many community services, Bert was elected to the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia in 2012.

Mark Underwood is the owner of Underwood Law Office, Inc. He makes the world safer by representing victims needlessly injured by others. He currently represents 185 victims of the West, TX fertilizer plant explosion that killed 15 and injured 300. He also represents six of 14 class representatives in the class action arising from the Freedom Industries MCHM chemical spill that poisoned the water for 300,000 people in Charleston, WV. Past cases have ranged from the catastrophic Upper Big Branch coal mine explosion, to customers set fire at gas stations by static electricity, and a $40.00 ERISA case that made international news. He has been featured on talk shows, including Fox & Friends. A medical malpractice case was discussed on Oprah. He is licensed to practice before the state and federal courts of West Virginia, Texas, California and Washington, D.C. He was elected a member of the West Virginia State Legislature in 1996 at age 32. He has been recognized by Virginia Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters Business, (2007), Marquis Who’s Who in American Law (2005-present), Marquis Who’s Who in America (2005-present), and Marquis Who’s Who in the World (2005-present). He is a graduate of the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (1992), the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College (2001) and the American Association of Justice’s Ultimate Advocacy College (2002, 2013). He received his law degree from the Pepperdine University in Malibu, California in 1989. He graduated from Marshall University with a Bachelors of Business Administration (Finance) in 1986. While attending law school, Mark was elected to the School of Law Honor Board which adjudicated violations of the school’s honor code. He studied international law in London, England. While in college, Mark was the captain of his college track team and a conference champion in the pole vault. Mark formerly practiced law in Los Angeles, California, for Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May which has since become the California offices of one of the world’s largest firms, Reed Smith. He completed his first marathon at 48 years of age in Dallas, TX. He has been skydiving, heliskiing, white water rafting and obtained his private pilot’s license. He is married to Cynthia Walker Underwood of McKinney, Texas. They have a son, Chace Forest Underwood. They reside in McKinney, TX.

Larry A. Bailey

Born and raised in Wayne County, West Virginia, Pete received his A.B. from Marshall University before attending the University of Tennessee College of Law where he was awarded his Doctor of Jurisprudence. Pete returned home and joined Greene Ketchum in 1976. Early in his career, Pete’s work focused on general legal matters, personal injury cases and criminal defense. Licensed to practice law in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio, Pete’s work is now focused exclusively on representing individuals with serious injuries and the families of those who have lost loved one’s due to someone else’s fault. Known for being meticulous and well prepared, a large part of Pete’s time is spent on working up his clients injury and damage cases and trying them to juries in the State and Federal court’s of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

Michael J. Farrell

Michael J. Farrell is the founding and managing member of Farrell & Farrell PLLC. He is a distinguished trial lawyer, author, lecturer, bar, and educational leader, recognized by Chambers USA as a Tier 1 outstanding litigator and by Super Lawyers as one of the TOP 10 in West Virginia. He holds an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell and has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for over twenty years across various litigation categories. His practice concentrates on complex litigation, including insurance coverage, cybersecurity, pharmaceutical, toxic tort, products liability, mass torts, legal malpractice, commercial, and employment litigation. He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, various Circuit Courts of Appeal, and federal and state courts in West Virginia and Kentucky. He has served on multiple higher education governing and policy boards and as an Adjunct Professor at Marshall University. He has significant trial experience with over 125 jury trials to verdict.

Matthew Stapleton

Matt was born and raised in Huntington, WV. He grew up in the tristate community, which is still his home today. Matt could always be found throughout the community whether it were in little league baseball, the boy scouts, as a member of the Jr. Blizzard hockey team, or playing YMCA soccer. Upon completion of high school in Huntington, Matt enrolled at Marshall University on a full academic scholarship where he would graduate after four years with his degree in accounting. Following graduation from Marshall University, Matt continued his studies at the West Virginia University College of Law. The summer after completing law school, Matt moved back to the tristate area and successfully completed the state bar examination. Matt had no questions about how he wanted to use his legal talents from day one. Matt had no desire to go work for the big insurance companies or giant corporations. He wanted to help the individuals of the community he calls home. He wanted to help the people he grew up with, the people he sees every week at the grocery store, and the people he calls friends and neighbors fight against the largest corporations in the world when the odds seem stacked against them. Matt wasted no time accomplishing this goal. The first case he worked on as a licensed attorney was an injury case against Walmart, the largest corporation in the world. The case settled the day before trial. Matt’s first case as lead attorney was a consumer protection case for illegal collection activity against Chase Bank, another giant corporation and one of the biggest banks in the world. Matt’s largest area of work is in personal injury cases such as car wrecks, motorcycle accidents, slip and fall cases, interstate accidents, semi-truck wrecks, dog bites and animal attaches, pedestrian injuries, wrongful death, and drunk or high driver incidents. He typically handles millions of dollars worth of settlements each year and consistently is up against the largest insurance agencies in the country and world. Matt approaches each case aggressively and moves swiftly to secure settlements for injury victims so they can move on from their tragic accident. His hard work was recognized many national organizations such as: 2016 - "Top 10 Under 40 Personal Injury Lawyer" by the National Trial Lawyers Organization (received before Matt turned 30) 2017 - "Rising Star in the field of Personal Injury" nomination by the The American Institute of Legal Advocates. 2017 - "10 Best Attorneys" in Personal injury for West Virginia by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys. 2018 - "Top 40 Under 40" in Personal Injury Law for West Virginia by American Academy of Attorneys. 2018 - "10 Best Attorneys" for West Virginia by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys. 2018 - "10 Best Under 40" in Personal Injury for West Virginia by the American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys. 2018 - "Top 40 Under 40" in Personal Injury Law by the Association of American Trial Lawyers. 2019 - "Top 10 Under 40" attorney in West Virginia by the National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys. 2019 - "10 Best Attorneys" for West Virginia Personal Injury by American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys. 2019 - "Top 40 Under 40" Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in West Virginia by The National Trial Lawyers. 2019 - Top 10 Attorneys for West Virginia by Attorney and Practice Magazine. Matt’s second area of focus in his practice is consumer protection. Protecting the people from abusive, harassing, and unfair practices by the big banks and creditors is a cornerstone of Stapleton Law. Matt is an advocate for people who have fallen on hard times or are being treated unfairly by their bank or lender. If you think your bank or credit union is acting unfairly or abusively call Matt today at 304-529-1130 for a FREE appointment to discuss your case.

Scott G. Stapleton

Scott G. Stapleton was born in Huntington in 1957. Has lived in Huntington virtually his entire life, and currently lives in Huntington. Scott graduated from Marshall University, Magna Cum Laude (with high honors) in 1980, and went on to graduate from the prestigious George Washington University National Law Center in Washington, D.C. in 1983. Famous fellow alumni of the National Law Center include David Eisenhower, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Kelly Ann Conway (top advisor to President Trump), Bruce Sewell (head attorney for Apple Computer Co.), and many others. Mr. Stapleton is a member of mensa (the high IQ Society) and has been voted to the Best in America List for Consumer Lawyers. Scott has been married since 1984 to Gail Hicks Stapleton, who has taught in the Cabell County School System for many years and who has probably taught the children of your friends and family. Scott has two sons, Christopher Scott Stapleton who is a Captain in the United States Air Force, and pilot of various Air Force aircraft, stationed at Langley Air Force Base. Scott’s other son, Matthew Stapleton, is the head of the Personal Injury Department here at Stapleton Law Offices. Mr. Stapleton is the grandfather of three young grandchildren and the Stapleton family are members of Fifth Avenue Baptist Church in Huntington. Mr. Stapleton’s primary fields are personal injury, car accidents and bankruptcy. In his over 34 years of practicing law, Mr. Stapleton has successfully handled hundreds of personal injury cases and has recovered millions of dollars for people just like you, for everything ranging from automobile accidents, trucking accidents, bicycle accidents, pedestrian accidents, to slip and fall cases, to dog bites, to just about anything and everything else. Mr. Stapleton is frequently called “Mr. Bankruptcy” and handles more bankruptcy cases than all of the other attorneys in Huntington combined! Mr. Stapleton has helped thousands and thousands of folks just like you, who are having financial difficulties and need a fresh financial start. Like all of the attorneys and the staff at Stapleton Law Offices, Mr. Stapleton tries to make things as convenient as possible for clients, so evening and weekend appointments are available, in addition to appointments during regular working hours. Although doctors no longer make house calls, the lawyers at Stapleton Law Offices will be happy to meet with injured clients at the hospital or the client’s home. All injury cases are handled on a “no risk” basis, so if there is not a recovery, the client owes nothing to Stapleton Law Offices and owes nothing for the out-of-pocket expenses that Stapleton Law Offices has paid developing the case, although it is extremely rare that the client does not receive a cash settlement. Stapleton Law Offices has a mixture of highly experienced veteran attorneys, as well as “mover and shaker, young gun” attorneys for an excellent balance of the best of both worlds. Stapleton Law Office has for multiple years been voted the best law firm in the Tri-State by the readers of the Huntington Herald Dispatch newspaper. There is never anything to be nervous or embarrassed about when speaking with Stapleton Law Offices because we pride ourselves on being very compassionate, respectful and friendly to all of our clients, because we understand that it is truly an honor to have the privilege of representing you. We have a highly trained full staff and you will never get an answering machine when talking to Stapleton Law Offices because a live human being personally answers every call made to Stapleton Law Offices during business hours.