CHARLESTON — Donald Nickerson Jr. said he is honored to be one of the first people selected for a seat on the bench of the new Intermediate Court of Appeals.
"The applicants for the ICA positions were a group of highly respected lawyers and judges, all with considerable experience and abilities," Nickerson said in an interview with The West Virginia Record before he was named to the new court December 28 by Gov. Jim Justice. "To be recommended from that group of applicants for such an important new position in our judicial system is both flattering and humbling."
Nickerson said the opportunity to become a part of this new portion of our judicial system is exciting to him and involves an opportunity that he has long desired.
"Being chosen for a position on the ICA will be the realization of a dream of mine," Nickerson said. "Being selected to serve in such an important position in our judicial system will be for me, the culmination of a career of hard work and ethical behavior where I always recognized the impact on people and businesses of what we do as lawyers and judges."
Nickerson said he feels he brings a lot of experience to the ICA.
"I feel that I would bring to the ICA the right combination of broad-based experience, as well as the proper perspective and passion for the role of a judge in our judicial system," Nickerson said. "As the ICA will be a court of last resort for the vast majority of cases which come before it, it is of paramount importance that its judges properly understand a judge's role in that system, giving great deference to the legislature and applying the law evenly and fairly in every case, while giving meaningful review to those cases."
Nickerson said all of that makes the system the best in the world.
"ICA judges should also be able to maintain a perspective that their decisions will affect real people and real businesses and thus, the law must be applied strictly, evenly and fairly," Nickerson said. "I feel that I will bring that understanding and perspective to the ICA."
Nickerson is an attorney at Spilman Thomas & Battle in Wheeling, where he primarily practices corporate and business law. He also practices trust and estate planning and administration.
Nickerson graduated from West Liberty University with a bachelor's in business administration and from Capital University with his law degree.
Earlier in his career, Nickerson was a legal intern for Judge Alan E. Norris with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, served as a municipal court judge in Wheeling and is currently an Ohio County commissioner.