New judge to take office in Marion County

CHARLESTON -– West Virginia's newest circuit judge will be sworn into office in a ceremony at 4 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, in the main courtroom in the Marion County Courthouse. The public is invited to attend, and no RSVP is necessary.

Michael John Aloi will take the oath of office from his predecessor, Fred Fox II, who retired as a judge in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit (Marion County) on November 30, 2010, after 40 years on the bench, the longest tenure of any circuit judge. Acting Governor Earl Ray Tomblin appointed Aloi to the seat on July 8 and will attend the ceremony.

Aloi is a past president of the West Virginia State Bar (2002-2003) and a past president of the Marion County Bar Association (1996-1997). In 2009-2010, he served as President of the Association for Conflict Resolution.

He was named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by the Appalachian Center for Law and Public Service in 1997, West Virginia Association for Justice Member of the Year in 2001, and a West Virginia State Bar Foundation Fellow in 2006. He received a Certificate of Merit from the West Virginia State Bar in 2008 for outstanding service. He has been selected for inclusion in "The Best Lawyers in America" and "Super Lawyers" for Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is the only lawyer in West Virginia to be a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, and he has received an AV rating from Martindale Hubble (the highest possible peer review rating for Legal Ability and Ethical Standards).

He serves as an Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and has served on the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Settlement Week Advisory Committee, as a member of the Magistrate Selection Panel, and the Magistrate Review Panel. He was selected as an Impartial Hearing Officer for the West Virginia Department of Education and served as Hearing Examiner pro tempore for the West Virginia Department of Human Rights and as a Hearing Examiner for the West Virginia Ethics Commission. He presently serves on the Board of the West Virginia Bar Foundation and as the Chairman of the West Virginia State Bar Commission on Judicial Independence.

He is a 1980 honors graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College, where he served as Student Body President and received the Sheridan Watson Bell Award for Outstanding Christian Leadership. In 1983 he graduated from the West Virginia University College of Law, where he was the only member of his class to receive both Order of the Coif and Order of the Barristers.

He is a Lecturer at the West Virginia University College of Law, where he is a Clinical Law Program Supervisor and also teaches Interviewing, Counseling, and Negotiation. He also teaches Negotiation in the West Virginia Wesleyan College MBA Program.

A resident of Farmington, he has been active in numerous community programs in Marion County.