CHARLESTON – The new chief judge of the West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals is ready to oversee the court for the first time with a newly elected judge.
Charles Lorensen took over as chief judge of the three-member court at the start of 2025. Like the chief justice for the state Supreme Court, the ICA chief judge position is a rotating position. Lorensen takes over for Thomas Scarr, who opted not to run for re-election after being appointed to the brand-new court that opened July 1, 2022.
Ryan White was elected to fill Scarr’s seat on the bench. He also began his duties January 1.
“You have to have someone presiding over arguments, meetings and such,” Lorensen told The West Virginia Record. “There is a significant amount of volume and time restrains, so one person has to be the one to keep things moving. You’re a timekeeper of sorts. But there is no special vote associated with being chief judge. …
“The other stuff is purely administrative. Judge Scarr loved that. We have a lot of personnel … 35 to 36 people. So, there’s always going to be turnover, illnesses and those types of issues. But we have a good team here. The folks we have hired … the delegation level is high and the capability is high.”
Lorensen praised Scarr for his work last year as chief judge.
“He normalized a lot of processes,” Lorensen said. “He created some policies that will help with the transition. I’m in the position that I am a successor to two very capable people (Scarr and Judge Dan Greear, the first ICA chief judge).
“They’ve sort of forged the path where there aren’t a lot of startup issues to come up. So far, so good. It’s been a smooth transition, and the Supreme Court of Appeals has been gracious to make administrative and other services available to us. That has taken a lot of the headache away from us.”
Lorensen did say he has some minor “inside baseball” type of changes he’d like to make in the coming year.
“We have some institutional goals that would helpful,” he said. “They’re pretty bureaucratic.”
He also said the ICA is really seeing its first major transition this year as White jumps into a seat “with a significant case inventory.”
“He’s stepping into the frying pan,” Lorensen said of White. “But he’s stepped in and has been working very hard.
“It’s a brand-new experience for us. It’s a thrill. It’s a classic situation where you have a new colleague. Judge Scarr was a distinguished judge, and we will miss him. There’s no replacing him.
“To grow and change, Judge White is bringing his own perspective. And, he brings down our average age. He makes us all look younger. And it’s a good thing because we now have more legitimacy because he’s the first statewide elected judge.”
Lorensen said he and the other two judges have been looking together at the new cases before the court. He said there are anywhere between 40 and 60 new cases filed each month with the ICA.
“The ICA’s purpose and capability are emerging, more than they were as a startup,” Lorensen said. “We are tasked with promptly deciding appeals on their merit. We need to make decisions and move to the next case. We are conscious of the concerns of the bar (about the ICA), and we don’t want to be an independent source of delay.
“It’s more and more apparent to us that we want to make sure we don’t have a burgeoning inventory backlog that would delay justice. We do understand any decision we make is appealable to the Supreme Court of Appeals. But, so far, a significant majority of them have not been appealed.
“We have the luxury that we have people who will tell us we’re wrong if we are.”
Lorensen called White “eager, experienced and very, very bright.”
“I’ve known Judge White and his family for many decades, and we couldn’t be happier to have him as a colleague,” he said. “We work as a team. We sometimes disagree with each other, but we do that in a way that’s respectful.”
White said the new experience is exciting and stimulating.
“I loved practicing law, but this is something very new to me,” he told The Record. “Getting my head wrapped around all of these cases is very interesting. Trying to figure out how to make quick decisions for the parties. I will enjoy it.”
He thanked Lorensen and Greear for their help in the transition.
“They’ve both been very good,” White said. “They’re probably tired of me coming to ask them questions. But I won’t shy away from that. They’ve been very helpful in telling me how they do things and giving me pointers on how they do it and telling me that I can do it however I need to do it. They’re also giving me the confidence to help come to a decision.”
White said the biggest change is that he’s no longer advocating for a client.
“When you’re an attorney, you’re working on files for your client, transactions for your client,” he said. “You’re doing something on behalf of somebody. If something goes wrong, it’s personal.
“This is a different position. Something already has gone wrong somewhere. I’m helping to decide and resolve the issue rather than trying to prevent issues from occurring. It’s totally different.
“There also is no advocacy now. I’m not trying to figure out a way to put my client at an advantage. I’m now a neutral arbiter.”
White said he has enjoyed his first few weeks on the job.
“I look forward to serving the people of West Virginia and providing justice for litigants,” he said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and I’m glad I’m finally here doing that.”
The Intermediate Court of Appeals was created by the West Virginia Appellate Reorganization Act of 2021. The court’s jurisdiction includes appeals of final orders or judgments in civil, family court, workers’ compensation, administrative and guardianship/conservatorship cases.
Greear will serve as chief judge a second time in 2026, and White will serve in the role in 2027.