History
of our Firm

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In the late 1940’s two local Assistant U. S. Attorneys, Edward H. Greene and Chadwick W. Ketchum, returned home from their service in World Ware II to find their old positions were no longer available. With a passion for the law and a strong desire to serve Cabell and Wayne Counties, Huntington and the Tri-State community, they formed a law firm concentrating on the general practice of law.

In 1967, Chad’s son, Menis E. Ketchum, II, graduated from the WVU College of Law and joined the firm. By the early 1970’s, Menis shifted the firm’s focus to personal injury and criminal law. Greene Ketchum’s personal injury work has played an integral role in developing West Virginia’s laws that protect the rights of injured persons, consumers and land owners. See Baldwin v. Buther, 155 W.Va. 431, 184 S.E.2d 428 (1971); Jones, Inc. v. W. A. Weidebusch Plumbing and Heating, Co., 157 W.Va. 257, 201 S.E.2d 248 (1973); Ye Olde Apothecary v. G. O. McClellan, 163 W.Va. 19, 253 S.E.2d 545 (1979); Bradley v. Appalachian Power Company, 163 W.Va. 332, 256 S.E.2d 879 (1979); Ashland Oil, Inc. v. Donahue, 164 W.Va. 409, 264 S.E.2d 466 (1980); Davis v. Robertson, 175 W.Va. 354, 332 S.E.2d 819 (1985); Shamblin v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 184 W.Va. 352, 396 S.E.2d 766 (1990); Brown v. Crum, 185 W.Va. 352, 400 S.E.2d 596 (1990); Beckley v. Crabtree, 189 W.Va. 94, 428 S.E.2d 317 (1993); Plumley v. May, 189 W.Va. 734, 434 S.E.2d 406 (1993); Marcum Trucking Co. Inc., v. U.S. Fidelity and Guar. Co., 190 W.Va. 267, 438 S.E.2d 59 (1993); Maynard v. Dailey Gazette Co., 191 W.Va. 601, 447 S.E.2d 293 (1994); Richardson v. Allstate Ins. Co., 193 W.Va. 244, 455 S.E.2d 803 (1995); Elkins v. State Farm Mut. Auto Ins. Co., 197 W.Va. 412, 457 S.E.2d 504 (1996); Kalwar v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 203 W.Va. 2, 506 S.E.2d 39 (1998); Sinkewitz v. City of Huntington, 217 W.Va. 265, 617 S.E.2d 812 (205); Simpson-Littman Const., Inc. v. Erie Ins. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co., WL 2435524 (S.D.W. Va. 2011); State ex. rel J.C. v. Mazzone, 233 W.Va. 457, 759 S.E.2d 200 (2014); E.D. ex rel. Darcy v. Pfizer, inc., 722 F.3d 574 (4th Cir. 2013); Manor Care Inc. v. Douglas, 234 W.Va. 57, 763 W.Va. 73 (2014).

By the mid to late 1970’s, Menis was a leading trial lawyer in West Virginia and recognized as one of the best trial lawyers in America. In addition to his large case load and trial schedule, Menis was being sought by asbestos insulator workers to file lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers. Deciding to expand the firm, Menis hired Lawrence J. Tweel  and Larry A. Bailey (Pete); eventually placing Mr. Tweel in charge of administrating the asbestos cases. Greene Ketchum’s trial lawyers, along with the Ness Motley law firm from South Carolina, tried the first asbestos cases in West Virginia. Greene Ketchum also represented the asbestos workers and others before the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission.

Lawrence J. Tweel, who practiced law for close to 45 years, handled asbestos and personal injury cases He also acted as Greene Ketchum’s managing partner prior to his retirement.

Pete Bailey’s legal career has extended over 40 years and he his the senior partner at Greene Ketchum.  Pete is a  trial lawyer with broad trial experience and multiple jury verdicts in West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio for cases involving wrongful death, product liability, medical malpractice, premises liability and motor vehicle accidents. Today, Pete’s trial work is focused on medical malpractice litigation.

Greene Ketchum continued to grow throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, with emphasis on cases involving motor vehicle accidents, product liability, medical malpractice and eminent domain.

Bert Ketchum, Menis’ son, joined the law firm in 1994 and became a partner in 1997. An experienced trial lawyer, Bert has tried numerous cases to jury verdict in the State and Federal courts of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio including, but not limited to, motor vehicle accidents, mining accidents, medical malpractice, wrongful death and eminent domain. In 2011 and 2013, Bert received jury verdicts for his clients in West Virginia that were unprecedented. Bert’s appellate experience includes arguing cases before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the United States Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.

By 2010, Greene Ketchum had again expanded its case load, handling mass litigation in pharmaceuticals, product liability and toxic torts. Shortly thereafter, the firm took an even larger step by filing one of the first Transvaginal Mesh cases in the country. The filing resulted in the consolidation of some 70,000 cases across the country into a Mass District Litigation in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston.  

In 2015, Clayton J. Maddox came to work at Greene Ketchum after clerking for the Honorable Judge Darrell Pratt of the 24th Judicial Circuit. Clay focused on general litigation and quickly gained considerable court room and trial experience with the firm. Today, Clay is a partner at Greene Ketchum handling a large part of the firm’s cases involving motor vehicle accidents, workplace injuries, contracts and real property damage. 

By 2016, Greene Ketchum’s hometown of Huntington, West Virginia was being called the epicenter of the opioid epidemic and was featured on shows like 60 Minutes and Netflix’s Heroin (e).  Huntington’s plight was also the center of several national publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.

In early 2017, Greene Ketchum filed the nation’s first lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, at Charleston, against the wholesale distributors of opioids on behalf of six West Virginia counties (Cabell, Kanawha, Wayne, Boone, Fayette, and Logan).  Greene Ketchum is a member of the team tackling the national opioid epidemic which consists of Greene, Ketchum, Bailey & Tweel LLP; Farrell Law; Baron & Budd PC; Levin Papantonio; Hill, Peterson, Carper, Bee & Deitzler PLLC; McHugh Fuller; and Powell & Majestro PLLC.  

Today, Greene Ketchum’s attorneys continue their focus on representing clients in  personal injury cases involving motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, defective products, workplace injuries and premises liability. They also try cases to verdict in the State and Federal courts of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. Our attorneys’ skilled advocacy has resulted in record breaking verdicts and judgments, as well as, millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements for our clients.  For their work, Greene Ketchum’s attorneys have been recognized by legal organizations for excellence and included in The National Advocates Top 100 Trial Lawyers and Super Lawyers®.  

In addition to their legal work, Greene Ketchum’s attorneys have also served on numerous legal and educational boards in West Virginia, including West Virginia State Bar Board of Governors; the West Virginia Ethics Commission; West Virginia Law Institute’s Governing Council; West Virginia Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission; West Virginia Association for Justice Board of Governors; Marshall University Foundation, Inc.; The Society of Yeager Scholars at Marshall University; the Faculty Merit Foundation of West Virginia, Inc. (selects higher education’s “Professor of the Year”); the Marshall University Graduate School Advisory Board; Hospice of Huntington; and the Cabell County American Cancer Society.

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