CHARLESTON – Charleston attorney Bill Schwartz has filed pre-candidacy papers to run for a seat on West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals.
An attorney for more than 30 years, Schwartz is a member of the Top 100 Lawyers in West Virginia. He says he is an even prouder West Virginian and looks to give back to the state he and his family call home.
If he decides to run to run for the Supreme Court, Schwartz said he wants to “restore confidence in the court system.” The next state Supreme Court election is 2020 when two seats are on the ballot.
"People and businesses want consistency at the court," he said. "You get that by fairly applying the law to facts regardless of who is in front of you. As a political outsider, I intend to disrupt the current system. You won’t have to ask me twice to recuse myself if there is even an appearance of impropriety. I will remember that the Court’s budget is taxpayer money. To serve on this court would be an honor and a privilege and I intend to treat it as such.
“I want to bring my 30 years-worth of legal experience to the bench while restoring some of the recently lost trust to this great court. Being a member of this court is one of the highest callings an attorney can achieve.”
Schwartz has practiced law in West Virginia since 1988. He said he plans to work day and night to let voters get to know him and to better understand the legal issues that matter most to West Virginians.
He also is a runner and likes to be involved in his community. He revived the Cross Country Invitation at Capital High School in Charleston in 2012, sponsored it financially and even marked the course.
“He walked three miles at least five times in a day to mark it,” Capital High Cross Country Coach Rodney Nelson said. “He organized the first meet and got parents to attend. He’s very energetic and gets things moving.”
Schwartz also is a regular contributor and sponsor of events at Covenant House in Charleston which has contact with 40,000 thousand people each year who need food or housing. He and his law firm of Harvit & Schwartz also sponsor the Breath for Life Foundation which works to find a cure for lung cancer.
He received his law degree from Washington and Lee University where he served on the Moot Court Board and coached the Regional Champion Mock Trial team. While an undergraduate, he won medals in the Big East Conference while on academic and athletic scholarship as a runner.
Schwartz lives in Charleston with his wife Monica and his two sons, Joseph and Henry.