CHARLESTON – Gov. Jim Justice has appointed Stephanie Abraham to the open seat on the Kanawha Circuit Court left by the retirement of Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
The governor also has appointed Michael Wayne Asbury Jr., of Clay County to the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit Court serving Braxton, Clay, Gilmer, and Webster counties. He will fill Judge Richard A. Facemire’s seat, who retired from the bench effective June 30.
Bloom also retired from the bench effective June 30.
Abraham has a career in civil litigation, corporate matters and representing governmental agencies. She served as a staff member for a former Republican United States Congressman and is a small-business owner. She’s represented school boards, county commissions, and government agencies. Most recently, she served as the General Counsel to the West Virginia State Board of Education.
Abraham graduated from Syracuse University in 2000 and from the University of Maryland Law School in 2003. Outside the practice of law, Abraham previously served on the Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College Board of Governors and taught business law at the college.
Abraham lives in South Charleston with her husband Brian, who is Justice's chief of staff and former general counsel, and their two sons.
She was one of a dozen people who applied for the open seat on the Kanawha Circuit Court left by the retirement of Circuit Judge Duke Bloom.
The other applicants, in alphabetical order, were Kevin Baker, city attorney for the City of Charleston; Harry Clair Bruner Jr., a Charleston attorney who previously ran for the Kanawha County Board of Education; Anne Charnock, former Charleston Municipal Judge; Nicole Cofer, director of Magistrate Courts Division with the state Supreme Court; Jim Douglas, Kanawha Family Court Judge; Jennifer Dowdy Gordon, Assistant Kanawha County Prosecutor; Ashlee Hunter, Kanawha County Mental Hygiene Commissioner; Matthew Minney, Administrative Law Judge for the state Public Service Commission; Adam Petry, Assistant Kanawha County Prosecutor; Zoe Shavers, a Charleston attorney; and Brittany Ranson Stonestreet, Kanawha Family Court Judge.
For the other appointment, Asbury owns his own law practice in Clay County and has served clients throughout the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit.
He graduated from West Virginia State University in 2002 and from West Virginia University College of Law in 2005. Outside the practice of law, Asbury is active in his community and his church.
Four others applied for that position. They were, in alphabetical order, Betty Gregory, a Grantsville attorney; Arthur “Wayne” King, a Clay attorney; Jasmine Morton, former Braxton County prosecuting attorney; and Dwayne Vandevender, current Braxton County prosecuting attorney.
Applicants for both seats were interviewed August 22 by the state Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission, which then submitted a list of recommendations to Justice for each position. He could have chosen one of those on the JVAC list or make his own choice.