CHARLESTON — Gov. Jim Justice announced the appointment of a new family court judge for Kanawha County this week to replace Judge Kenneth Ballard after he was appointed to the Kanawha Circuit Court.
Julie A. Pench will take over Ballard's family court seat that was vacated on April 26 upon Ballard's appointment to the circuit court. Justice issued the appointment letter on June 8, which was sent to Secretary of State Mac Warner, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House of Delegates, the chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court, the West Virginia Ethics Commission and general counsel of the Office of the Governor.
“I congratulate Julie Pence on her appointment to the family court bench,” Chief Justice Evan Jenkins said. “Her background as a family practice attorney will help her serve litigants who often are going through the most difficult periods of their lives when they are in family court hearings.”
Pence
Pence has been a licensed attorney in the state since 2002. Her most recent position was at Hardy Pence in Charleston as a senior attorney. She graduated from West Virginia University College of Law. At WVU she was the class vice president in 2002. She earned her bachelor's degree from Marshall University in political science, where she graduated in 1999.
Pence has been a practicing attorney for nearly 20 years and focused on managing commercial legal matters. She also practiced divorce and family law. She has bar admissions with the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
Between 2002 and 2010, she worked as an associate attorney for Dinsmore & Shohl and also focused on commercial litigation there.
Pence's husband is also an attorney at Hardy Pence. They live in South Charleston with their two daughters. She is a West Virginia native and graduated in 1995 from Ceredo-Kenova HIgh School in Kenova.
