CHARLESTON – Gov. Jim Justice has appointed Charles O. Lorensen to the new Intermediate Court of Appeals to fill the seat left by the resignation of Donald Nickerson.
Justice appointed Lorensen on April 26. Lorensen served as Chief of Staff for former Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, was cabinet secretary for the West Virginia Department of Revenue and commissioner of the West Virginia State Tax Department.
He currently is a member of Kay Casto & Chaney, having previously worked at Jackson Kelly and as General Counsel for Stonerise Healthcare.
Lorensen still must be confirmed by the state Senate. His term of six-and-one-half years will conclude on Dec. 31, 2028.
Including Lorensen, 19 applied to the state Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission for the position after Nickerson’s resignation for family reasons. The others were Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Browning, Charleston attorney Nicole Cofer, Kanawha Family Court Judge Jim Douglas, Lewisburg attorney Robert Frank, Charleston attorney Jace Goins, former Clarksburg Mayor Edward Ryan Kennedy, Chanin Krivonyak, Chief Administrative Law Judge for the state Board of Review for Unemployment Compensation Appeals Parween Sultany Mascari, Wheeling attorney Elgine McArdle, retired Circuit Judge James J. Rowe, Charleston attorney Mychal Sommer Schulz, former Circuit Judge Debra Scudiere, Wheeling attorney Martin Sheehan, Putnam County Prosecutor Mark Sorsaia, Wood Family Court Judge Darren Tallman, Charleston attorney Harry Taylor, Summersville attorney Gregory Tucker and Charleston attorney Charles “Rusty” Webb.
Following interviews by the state Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission last week,a list of three finalists was sent to the governor's office. Those three were Krivonyak, Lorensen and Sorsaia.
Douglas, Kennedy, Schulz, Sheehan, Tallman, Taylor and Tucker also previously applied for seats on the Intermediate Court of Appeals last year. Cofer, Frank, Lorensen, Rowe and Sorsaia also had applied for the recently filled seat on the state Supreme Court.
The court is set to begin July 1. Dan Greear from South Charleston and Thomas Scarr from Barboursville are the other two judges. The swearing in ceremony had been scheduled for May 1.
The new court, which was created during last year’s legislative session, will hear appeals of civil cases, family courts except domestic violence cases, state agencies or administrative law judges and workers’ compensation appeals.