HUNTINGTON -- Huddleston Bolen, a law firm with offices in West Virginia and Kentucky, has announced that it has dedicated the firm's law libraries in honor of former partner, the late William C. Beatty.
One of the nation's largest and oldest private law libraries, the main collection of the William C. Beatty Library is contained within the firm's headquarters in Huntington. A substantial collection, the libraries contain over 40,000 volumes.
Included in the collection are books, magazines, journals, law reviews, CD-ROMs, professional newsletters, microfiche archives and direct Internet access to legal resources throughout the world. The library has been in use for over 135 years. The collection contains antique volumes dating back to the late 1700's.
"Bill was a fanatic about the library and we can all be thankful that he was," partner Thomas J. Murray said. "He was a walking resource himself and could immediately direct any of our lawyers to incredibly valuable volumes within the library."
The Huntington office library now bears a bronze plaque noting this dedication: "The Lawyers of Huddleston Bolen, LLP dedicate this library to the memory of William C. Beatty. September 14, 1925 – September 11, 1994. He loved the law, this library and the firm as well as a good story and a good scrap. A lawyer's lawyer, and an inspiration to all who read the law."
Beatty was born in Ironton, Ohio, in 1925. He was a graduate of Morris Harvey College and received a master's degree from the University of Cincinnati. He was a summa cum laude graduate and editor of the law review at Washington & Lee University Law School. He was an Army Air Corps veteran of World War II, a member of Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church and a member of the Teubert Foundation Board.
Beatty was an attorney of long and distinguished service to his firm. He was a leader in the bar in the area of First Amendment Law and Labor Law. In 1960, he argued one of the seminal labor law cases, Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car, before the United States Supreme Court.
Beatty was one of only a very few attorneys who served as president of both the West Virginia State Bar and the West Virginia Bar Association. His career successes as a courtroom advocate earned him membership as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and an Advocate of the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Huddleston Bolen provides their clients with legal expertise through their many practice groups. The 135-year old firm represents clients in areas such as litigation, transportation law, corporate business law, wills, estates and trusts, healthcare, bankruptcy, banking and finance, real estate, mediation and others. Huddleston Bolen operates offices in Huntington and Charleston in West Virginia, and in Louisville and Ashland in Kentucky.
For more information about the firm, go to www.huddelstonbolen.com.