Practice Expertise

  • Appellate Litigation
  • Energy Law
  • Labor & Employment Law
  • Litigation

Areas of Practice

  • Appellate Litigation
  • Energy Law
  • Labor & Employment Law
  • Litigation
  • Natural Resources
  • View More

Profile

Mr. Woody's primary areas of practice are labor and employment law, litigation, and appellate litigation practice.

Bar Admissions

Admissions

  • West Virginia State Bar
  • The Florida Bar
  • West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
  • Supreme Court of the State of Florida
  • Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
  • United States Supreme Court
  • United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fourth, Sixth and District of Columbia Circuits

Education

  • University of Virginia, B.A., 1969
  • Florida State University, J.D., 1972

Areas of Practice

  • Appellate Litigation
  • Energy Law
  • Labor & Employment Law
  • Litigation
  • Natural Resources

Professional Career

Significant Accomplishments
  • Lead counsel, plaintiff in Uniform Trade Secrets Act case for misappropriation by employees
  • Lead counsel, 15-day trial on successorship issues
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University Law School, Spring and Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Employment Practices
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Charleston School of Law, Charleston, S.C., Spring 2013, Employment Law
  • Law Clerk, John A. Field, Jr., Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, 1973 – 1974
  • Brown et al v. Tethys Bioscience, Inc., 2013 WL 65456 (Jan. 4, 2013), 2012 WL 4605671 and 4606386 (Oct. 10, 2012) and WL 4606007 (Oct. 1, 2012) orders granting Tethys summary judgment on negligent misrepresentation, retaliation, discharge and other counts
  • Harper v. Jackson Hewitt, Inc., 2010 WL 4723380, W. Va.
  • Carolina Power & Light Company v. Aspect Software, Inc., 2010 WL 3210970 (E.D.N.C.)
  • State ex re. Richmond American Homes of West Virginia, Inc. v. Sanders, 226 W. Va. 103, 697 S.E.2d 139 (2010)
  • West v. West Virginia Department of Transportation, Division of Highways, 224 W. Va. 563, 687 S.E.2d 346 (2009)
  • Cottrell Co. v. Carlton, Inc., 614 S.E.2d 1 (2005) (hired for appeal and successfully had sanctions overturned)
  • Columbia Natural Resources, 120 LA 1599 (July 28, 2005) (successfully defended successor employer’s alleged failure to match 401(k))
  • Holland v. Williams Mountain Coal Co., 256 F.3d 819, 347 U.S. App. D.C., 198, 26 Employee Benefits Cas. 1781 (D.C. Cir., July 31, 2001) (successfully defended successor-in-interest definition under Coal Act; Court did not apply “substantial continuity of operations” test)
  • N.L.R.B. v. Labor Ready, Inc., 253 F.3d 195, 167 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2405, 143 Lab. Cas. P 11,007 (4th Cir., 2001)
  • Gardner v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., Inc., 7 Fed. Appx. 241, 2001 WL 378276 (4th Cir. (W. Va.), 25 Employee Benefits Cas. 2696 (4th Cir. (W. Va.), Apr .16, 2001)
  • Holland v. High Power Energy, 98 F. Supp. 2d 741 (S.D.W. Va. 2000)
  • Holland v. Big River Minerals Corp., 181 F.3d 597 (4th Cir. 1999)
  • Anker Energy Corp. v. Consolidation Coal Co., 177 F.3d 161, 24 Employee Benefits Cas. 1026 (3d Cir. 1999)
  • Carbon Fuel Co. v. USX, 153 F.3d 719 (4th Cir. 1998)
  • Leary v. Bluestone Coal, 141 F.3d 1158 (4th Cir. 1998)


  • Seminars/ Presentation
  • Speaker, 2012 ABA Labor and Employment Law Conference, Atlanta, "Developing a Best-in-Class Labor and Employment Law Practice"
  • Speaker, 2003 ABA Mid-Year Meeting, San Juan, Puerto Rico
  • Speaker, 2002 ABA Annual Meeting, "Hot Topics in Labor Law," sponsored by YLD and Labor and Employment Law Section
  • Guest Speaker, University of Virginia Law School, Employment Litigation: Principles and Practice, October 1998


  • Articles

    Publications & Presentations

    • Chapter Co-Author, Trial Techniques for the Labor and Employment Law Practitioner, Bloomberg/BNA, 2019
    • “An Argument for Use of Stock Options with Forfeiture Clauses for Breach of Duty of Loyalty,” West Virginia Law Review, November 2016
    • "Absence and Leave," The West Virginia Lawyer 50, March 2013
    • “How to Handle the Difficult Opposing Counsel,” ABA Young Lawyers Subcommittee, Online Products Liability Articles, 2006
    • “How to Second Chair a Trial,” ABA Young Lawyers Subcommittee, Online Products Liability Articles, January 2007
    • “Impact of District 29, United Mine Workers v. Royal Coal Co. on the Sale of a Coal Facility,” 88 W. Va. L. Rev. 605 (1986)
    • “Liability for Employee Benefits Resulting from Cessation of Mining Operations,” 7 Eastern Min. L. Inst., Ch. 7 (1986)
    • Florida State University Law Review
    • Speaker, 2012 ABA Labor and Employment Law Conference, Atlanta, "Developing a Best-in-Class Labor and Employment Law Practice"

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