WHEELING – Former state Supreme Court Justice and longtime circuit judge Arthur Recht has died. He was 80.
Recht died Oct. 28 at Wheeling Hospital after suffering a stroke.
“One of West Virginia’s legal giants has passed,” state Supreme Court Chief Justice Margaret Workman said. “Art Recht was a brilliant judge and a wonderful friend. He left an indelible mark on our state by the standards he shaped in public education for West Virginia children.
“Serving on the Supreme Court with him was a personal and professional pleasure. I respected, admired, and liked him immensely. My love and prayers are with Karen and the rest of his family.”
In addition to serving two years on the state Supreme Court in the 1990s, Recht served as First Circuit Judge (Brooke, Hancock and Ohio counties) for more than 20 years. He has served as an acting Justice and Senior Status Judge frequently since his retirement in 2012.
In fact, he was serving as a circuit judge in the First Circuit when he died. Workman had appointed him to fill in for James Mazzone, who stepped down to become a federal magistrate.
“Because of his tenacity, his incredible intellect and his deep empathy for others, he acquired a stature few rarely achieve,” Wheeling attorney Teresa Toriseva said of Recht. “He used that stature, as a judge, to do good. He saved lives.
“I saw it firsthand as a trial lawyer in his courtroom. He was unafraid, well prepared, engaged, in charge and full of love and humor. He honored the bench, and we will all miss him terribly.”
Recht was a senior partner in the firm that hired Robert McCoid fresh out of law school. He called Recht a mentor and a friend.
"He was dynamic," said McCoid, who is a partner at McCamic, Sacco & McCoid in Wheeling. "He had a penetrating intellect like few people I’ve known. I had the opportunity to appear on him as a jurist both as a prosecutor and later as a defense lawyer. I've probably tried more cases in front of him than any other judge.
"He drove lawyers to excellence. He demanded it of them. He expected you to be prepared and nimble, and he also taught us to love the law. He was a great teacher to me, both as a practitioner and as a jurist."
McCoid said Recht's intelligence translated to an incredibly sharp wit.
"He was one of the funniest guys you ever would meet," he said. "I will miss his phenomenal sense of humor."
He said working with Recht made him a better attorney and a better person.
"If you’re going to advance a position, you better have law to back it up," McCoid said when asked to describe something he learned from Recht. "If you wanted to win the point with him, you had better be ready to come in and defend that position.
"The state, and the state's legal community, is a little poorer for his passing."
Recht was born in Wheeling in 1938 and received his undergraduate degree at the University of Pittsburgh and his law degree from West Virginia University in 1962. He initially was appointed to the First Judicial Circuit in 1981 and as elected in 1982. He left the bench in late 1983 and returned to practicing law in Wheeling.
In May 1995, then‐Gov. Gaston Caperton appointed Recht to the state Supreme Court to fill the unexpired term of retired Justice Richard Neely, which ended in 1996. In 1996, Recht was again appointed to the First Judicial Circuit and was elected in 1998, 2000 and 2008. Chief Justices appointed Recht several times to serve on the Supreme Court when a justice could not serve on a case.
Since his retirement on Jan. 31, 2012, Recht had been a senior status judge and was recalled to service several times, including recently. In 2013, Recht filled in for First Judicial Circuit Judge Martin Gaughan and in 2015 for Judge Mark Karl in the Second Judicial Circuit (Marshall, Wetzel and Tyler counties).
He is best known for what became known as “The Recht Decision.” The case began in 1975 when a Lincoln County parent filed a class action lawsuit alleging students there were not getting a “thorough and efficient” education as the West Virginia Constitution requires. The case was dismissed in circuit court and appealed to the Supreme Court, which assigned Judge Recht to collect evidence. In 1982, Recht issued a decision setting education standards and ruling that many West Virginia schools did not meet those standards because of unequal funding. The State Department of Education was charged with implementing the decision, and in the 1984 Pauley v. Bailey case. the Supreme Court approved the Education Department’s Master Plan for Public Education.
The Circuit Court retained jurisdiction in the case to monitor progress until January 2003 when Recht closed the case and relinquished jurisdiction. In the intervening years, the state school aid formula was modified to provide more equal funding and hundreds of millions of dollars was spent on new schools, facilities, curriculum, and standards.
Recht served as a member of the Governor's Committee on Selection of Judicial Candidates from Circuit Court from 1990-95, chairman of the State Bar's Committee on Legal Ethics from 1985-91 and president of the Judicial Association from 2002-03. For many years, he was a member of the Mass Litigation Panel and as a senior status judge continued for several years to preside over FELA Asbestos Litigation and the Tobacco Litigation.
He received the 2008 Judge of the Year Award from the West Virginia Association of Justice and received the Distinguished West Virginian Award in 1997.
Kepner Funeral Home in Wheeling is in charge of the funeral arrangements. Recht leaves behind his wife Karen, and two adult sons.
