2011-2012 Officers (L-R)
Charles Printz, Jr., Secretary, Laurie Barbe, Treasurer, Gerard Stowers, President, Lee Murry Hall, Immediate Past President
Gerard R. Stowers, a partner in the Charleston office of Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love LLP, has been elected president of the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia (DTCWV), an association of West Virginia attorneys who defend individuals and businesses in civil litigation.
Stowers is the chair of the Bowles Rice litigation department and focuses his practice in the areas of business litigation, products liability litigation and professional liability defense. He is recognized by
Best Lawyers in America in the areas of bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation, legal malpractice law and personal injury litigation. He is also recognized by
Super Lawyers in business litigation law and by Chambers USA’s
“Leading Lawyers for Business.” He is a 1976 graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law, where he selected to the Order of the Coif and Order of the Barristers. He received his undergraduate degree,
magna cum laude, from West Virginia University and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
“It is an honor to represent the more than 500 members of the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia,” Stowers said. “I look forward to implementing the goals of this organization, which since 1982 has been the voice of the defense bar. We want that voice to be loud and clear that all West Virginians, including its business community, are entitled to a level playing field before the courts of this state, without fear or favor.”
A second Bowles Rice attorney joins Stowers on the DTCWV board of governors. Charles F. Printz, a partner in the law firm’s Martinsburg office, has been elected as the association’s secretary.
Printz is a member of the Bowles Rice executive committee and focuses his practice in the area of civil litigation, products liability, commercial disputes, toxic torts, and employer’s liability. He is recognized by
Best Lawyers in America in bet-the-company litigation, commercial litigation and labor and employment law and has been recognized by
Super Lawyers in the area of business litigation. He was named a West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow in 2008.
Bowles Rice is a full service, regional defense law firm with 120 attorneys located in six offices in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia.