At DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC, we believe that money shouldn’t get in the way of one’s dreams. Since 2018, our law firm has proudly offered a scholarship for students who are in need of financial assistance to pursue a higher education.

In 2022, we made some changes to our scholarship and dedicated it to the memory of Sean Patrick McGinley, who we unexpectedly lost in 2021. Sean McGinley was more than a dear friend and colleague to all of us. He was a skilled attorney and litigator, loving father and husband, and faithful benefactor and advocate of the local community here in Charleston, West Virginia.

Exploring a new area can be an exciting adventure—or it can be terrifying and stressful. The Charleston car accident attorneys from DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC talk tips for safe road travel in unfamiliar territory.

When you are injured in an accident or through the negligent actions of another person, you are owed compensation for the full breadth of your financial losses. This includes all medical expenses you have incurred as a result of your injuries.

But while you may know that you are entitled to compensation for past and current medical bills, you may still be unsure whether you can claim future medical expenses in a personal injury lawsuit. The short answer is yes, future medical expenses are compensable in a personal injury claim.

Knowing how much you are entitled to for future medical expenses is a much more complicated question to answer, though.

Here at DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC, we have an unwavering commitment to many things, some of which are giving back to the Charleston community, especially our younger generations and education, and supporting what we see as worthy legal causes. Our law firm recently put its support behind an initiative, the 2023 Spirit of the Mountains Youth Leadership Association’s (YLA) Service Award, that allowed us to demonstrate our support for both.

At our law firm DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC, we firmly believe in supporting our community. One of the ways in which we do that is by sponsoring sporting events that encourage Charleston residents to remain physically active, as doing so has been proven to be important for improving a person’s mental and physical wellbeing.

Keeping with our commitment to do our part to support our fellow Charleston residents, our legal team recently sponsored two different United States Tennis Association (USTA) events, including the HospiceCare Tennis Tournament and the Marshall Alumni & Friends Tennis Tournament. Tennis holds a particularly fond place in the heart of firm partner Lonnie C. Simmons as he formerly served as captain on several USTA tennis teams himself during a 15-year period.

Most of us expect items we purchase off store shelves to be safe to use. It goes through many eyes and hands before it makes it into yours. There’s the designer, the manufacturer, the marketer, the buyer from the store who chooses that item for the retailer’s shelves, and others on the supply chain that should acknowledge problems with a product before it hits store shelves and gets in the hands of consumers.

Sadly, no matter how many levels of quality assurance checks products go through, problems seem to arise, endangering consumers’ lives. There’s not just one type of defect that ends up with the filing of product liability claims in West Virginia, but instead, multiple ones. Read on to learn more about the defects in product liability claims so that if you’ve had the misfortune of becoming hurt, you’ll have a better idea if you may have a valid reason to take legal action.

There isn’t always one person who is at fault in a T-bone car accident. But because T-bone accidents are often caused by traffic violations, this type of motor vehicle accident can be more clear-cut than other types.

More often than not, a T-bone car accident is caused by a person who runs the red light, misses the stop sign, drives drunk, or crashes into the side of another car while looking at their cell phone. Essentially, most T-bones happen when one driver is negligent and fails to yield the right of way to another.

You may have been following the rules of the road when you suddenly found yourself being T-boned by another vehicle. If that’s the case, you may have grounds to file a car accident claim with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. But before any legal action can be taken to recover compensation for medical bills, property damage, and other losses, you need to be able to conclusively answer the question: Who is at fault in the T-bone car accident?

Whether you travel by foot to the bus stop, take your dog on an evening stroll, or regularly walk between businesses, chances are that you use a public sidewalk on a regular basis. Many publicly-owned sidewalks in West Virginia are well-maintained and safe, but there are also many stretches of public sidewalks that are cracked, buckled, bulging, or built at angles that pose a threat to pedestrians.

If you’ve been injured while walking, you may be wondering who is liable for a slip and fall on a public sidewalk in West Virginia. Holding local governments and municipalities responsible for their negligent or wrongful actions can be a challenge, and it is not always clear when they may actually hold any responsibility for a fall and resulting injuries.

No family wants to reach the point where they feel compelled to move their loved one into a nursing home, but many Charleston residents find themselves in a place where they feel like they have no other option but to do so.

Just like any other tenant, nursing home residents themselves, or their power of attorney, must sign a contract before moving in. There is often a unique clause outlined in the terms and conditions of that assisted living facility contractual agreement, which is an arbitration one.

Generally, nursing home arbitration agreements would, in essence, be a signing away of your or your resident loved one’s right to pursue civil litigation against the nursing home if a situation necessitated you doing so. Below, we discuss some of the reasons this is a bad thing and let you know what options you may have if you feel the need to take legal action but are already entangled in a legal agreement like this.

Flirting. Telling off-color jokes. Showing favoritism. It’s often a fine line when it comes to what’s acceptable in a professional setting and what’s not.

There are many forms of workplace sexual harassment, and some are much more obvious than others. Below, we’ll discuss how sexual harassment and discrimination often manifest in an occupational setting.

If you have experienced inappropriate sexual conduct, sex-based discrimination, or sexual violence in the workplace, please contact DiPiero Simmons McGinley & Bastress, PLLC to discuss your case in further detail. We provide free and confidential consultations to help survivors of workplace sexual harassment exercise their legal rights and take control of their futures.