Attorney Bernie Layne Elected President of West Virginia Association for Justice

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - June 25, 2013 - PRLog -- West Virginia personal injury lawyer Bernie Layne was recently elected president of the West Virginia Association for Justice (WVAJ). Layne, a partner with the Charleston law firm Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC received the honor earlier this June at the legal organization’s annual convention.

Attorney Layne, who has been with Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC since 2007, is one of the youngest presidents in the history of the WVAJ – a true testament to his unerring work ethic and competitive spirit. A native West Virginian born in Williamson and raised in Parkersburg, Layne attributes his focus on education and hard work to his parents. Raised in the poverty-ridden West Virginia coal communities, Layne’s parents knew the challenges of working one’s way to the top. According to Layne, they taught him the importance of perseverance, hard work, and helping others.

And if any three words could summarize what Attorney Layne’s professional career has been all about, it is certainly those three. While attending the University of Charleston on a baseball scholarship, Layne suffered a career ending rotator cuff injury, prompting him to intensify his efforts in the classroom. He was soon elected student body president, won a statewide award for his senior thesis on corrupt and illegal strip mining practices in southern West Virginia, received the Ivor S. Boiarsky Award recognizing him as the top political science student in his graduating class, and was chosen to deliver the commencement address at his graduation.

Layne went on to earn his M.A. in Sociology from Ohio University and worked for a year with the Title 19 Medicaid Waiver program in southern West Virginia. It was during his time with the program that he personally encountered the struggles and legal barriers faced by the region’s elderly, disabled, and disenfranchised. It was also during this time that his passion for helping others came into bloom and his plans for law school solidified.

Attorney Layne received his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the University of Dayton College of Law in 1999, returned to West Virginia and began practicing law. Throughout the years, he has dedicated both his legal career and personal life to helping others – particularly those from his home state in West Virginia. A longtime advocate with an impressive track record, Layne has served on the WVAJ Board of Governors for more than a decade and was named to the executive committee before becoming president this year.

The WVAJ is precisely in tune with what Attorney Layne has exemplified his whole life – social justice, community, and helping those in need. During his legal career, Layne has represented countless victims and families, many of whom suffered tragic losses at the hands of corporate negligence and greed. He has represented injured plant workers and pipe fitters against asbestos manufacturers that continued to use carcinogenic products long after they knew of their danger. He has represented miners and their loved ones after the negligence of mining companies resulted in accidents. At Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC, Attorney Layne assists all those in need, and regularly works cases for permanently disabled workers seeking to navigate the Social Security disability claim process, families in need of filing wrongful death claims, and patients injured by medical negligence and dangerous medical products. His cliente? It includes the average West Virginian, the families, the workers, the consumers, the injured, and all those who need a bold, unwavering voice in the American legal system.

Attorney Layne views his new role with the WVAJ as a great privilege, and one he intends to use just as he has used his role as a Charleston personal injury lawyer with Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC – to help others. To learn more about Attorney Layne and his personal injury practice at the firm, visit http://www.yourwvinjuryattorneys.com.