CHARLESTON – November has been a month of some key firsts for the state’s new Intermediate Court of Appeals.
On November 10, the three-judge court heard its first in-person oral arguments. And on November 18, the court issued its first signed opinion and memorandum decisions.
ICA Chief Judge Dan Greear said the court, which also includes Thomas Scarr and Charles Lorensen, is on pace to handle 800 to 1,000 cases per year.
“It’s been going well,” Greear told The West Virginia Record. “We’ve been spending a lot of time getting the procedures in place, figuring out how things are going to proceed once cases get here, the case flow and things like that.
“We’re now getting a steady stream of cases. We’ve started the process of sorting those out. What needs oral arguments and such. We’re learning our roles. I think we’re about to get it where we want to be.”
Greear said the first in-person oral arguments went well.
“I was more nervous than I thought I would be,” he said. “There was a little anxiety. I was worried about things like, ‘Are we going to forget something?’
“But once we got in there and counsel made their arguments, it all flowed well. Counsel prepared well in both cases. I thought it went as you’d expect an appellate oral argument to go.”
Gov. Jim Justice appointed the three ICA judges. Greear’s term ends at the end of 2026, Scarr’s at the end of 2024, and Lorensen’s at the end of 2028. After the initial terms, ICA judges will be elected to 10-year terms.
The court main courtroom in Charleston is located in the newly named West Virginia Judicial Tower (formerly City Center East) in Kanawha City. But there are satellite courtrooms across the state in Grant, Lewis, Morgan, Raleigh and Wetzel counties.
The judges will remain in Charleston for most proceedings, but litigants will have the option to appear in person in Charleston or at one of the satellite courtrooms. Some of those satellite courtrooms already have had ribbon-cutting ceremonies, but all of them are functional and available for use.
The satellite locations were selected so a litigant will not have to drive more than 90 minutes to reach a courtroom. Each location has security, ample parking and are accessible.
The Legislature established the ICA in 2021. It will hear appeals of civil cases, appeals from family courts (except domestic violence cases), appeals from state agencies or administrative law judges and workers’ compensation appeals.
Greear said the new court will help take some of the workload from both the circuit courts and the state Supreme Court.
“We’re removing the domestic relations appeals from circuit courts and administrative law appeals from circuit courts,” he said. “It’s not a huge part of what they do, but they’re so swamped with abuse and neglect cases.
“Plus, they’re trial courts. They aren’t appellate courts. Getting those two things out of their way is just that much less they’ll have to deal with, so that’s good.
“As for the Supreme Court, I think what it’s going to do is allow the Justices to not have to deal with the garden-variety, everyday issues such as deciding if something was ruled on incorrectly in the lower courts. I’m talking about the standard kind of stuff where something might went a little wrong at the court below.
“In the other 41 states with intermediate courts, very few of these cases go all the way through the process. That’s just not what you see happening. A very small percentage of cases are appealed from trial courts, and an even smaller percentage is appealed from the intermediate courts to the Supreme Courts.
“We’ll be able to weed out a lot of things the Supreme Court has had to deal with and give them more time for the meaty matters they should focus on.”
Greear said the judges recently approved the schedule for the Spring 2023 term. The first oral arguments for the term are set for January 11.
“We’re pretty much up and running at full steam,” he said. “The appeals are coming in, but there are different time frames for different types of cases. Workers’ comp cases take less time than family court appeals. And civil cases, in general, have the longest time frame.
“By the first of the year, the spigot’s going to be all the way on. It’s open about three-quarters of the way now.”
Greear said he also wanted to give credit to the state Supreme Court for making the first few months of the ICA so easy.
“The justices laid the groundwork well for us to come in and get it going,” he said. “They did so many things before we got here that we were able to build on. When the Legislature passed the bill, under Chief Justices (Evan) Jenkins and (John) Hutchison, they made sure we had a foundation so we could be up and running quickly. A lot of the credit for how far along we are goes to the Supreme Court.”
Greear also said the ICA recently sought an opinion from the state Judicial Investigation Commission regarding potential cases involving businesses owned by Gov. Justice. The judges wanted an opinion on the matter because Justice appointed them to the court. The JIC told the judges they are not required to recuse themselves from such cases, but it said they should disclose the nature of the relationship to the governor to the parties involved in the case.
