Ashley Hardesty Odell

Ashley Hardesty Odell focuses her practice on labor and employment law, and enjoys counseling and advising employers on many workplace issues, including discrimination and harassment, wage and hourly issues, employee handbooks, workplace safety and employment agreements.

Ashley also has experience litigating many types of matters in both state and federal courts. She continues to manage other litigation matters involving business disputes, commercial collections, construction litigation, property damage and personal injury defense.  Her strong evaluation, management and advocacy skills allow her to routinely resolve her clients’ disputes efficiently, avoiding unnecessary litigation costs. 

She serves as practice group leader for litigators in the firm's Morgantown, Wheeling, Southpointe and Martinsburg offices. She also leads both the firm's Insurance Defense Group and the Extracontractual/Bad Faith and Coverage Team.  She was a co-author of the West Virginia section of Defense Research Institute’s 2015 State by State Insurance Bad Faith Law Compendium. She is also a member of the firm's Recruiting Committee.

Since 2013, Ashley has been recognized as a Rising Star for Business Litigation by West Virginia Super Lawyers. In 2016, she was selected as a West Virginia Wonder Woman by West Virginia Living magazine. The award recognized women “who, through hard work and determination, have made West Virginia a better place to live.”  She was also selected as a 2008 “Generation Next:  40 Under 40” award winner and as a 2010 Generation West Virginia Regional All-Star.  In 2014, she received the Young Alumni Award from West Virginia University. She has served as president of the Monongalia County Bar Association, and is a graduate of Leadership Monongalia.

In 2018, Ashley was named Bowles Rice's Diversity Partner. She is a 2019 Fellow of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and Chair of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity Working Group.

An active member of her community, Ashley is involved with many civic and professional organizations, including the North Central West Virginia Society for Human Resource Management, the WVU College of Law Visiting Committee, the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia, Defense Research Institute (DRI), the Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties. She was a founder of Generation Morgantown and served on the economic development committee for Generation West Virginia and as a member of the Power of 32 Steering Committee.  She has been a frequent contributor to Court Watch, an annual overview of recent West Virginia Supreme Court decisions, at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Summit.

• Bowles Rice Diversity Partner
• Chair, Diversity Working Group, West Virginia Chamber of Commerce
• Member, Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
• Monongalia County Bar Association President (2007)
• Leadership Monongalia, Class of 2007
• Intern, Senator Robert C. Byrd (1999)

• "Young Guns" Class of 2020, West Virginia Executive Magazine
• Fellow, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, 2019
• Recognized among West Virginia's Wonder Women, presented by West Virginia Living, 2016
• Recognized by West Virginia Super Lawyers as a Rising Star (Business Litigation), 2013-2018
• Margaret Buchannan Young Alumni Award, WVU Alumni Association, 2014
• Generation West Virginia Regional All Star award winner, 2010
• “Generation Next, 40 Under 40” award winner, 2008
• West Virginia University Mountain Honorary
• Queen Silvia LXIII, WV Forest Festival, Elkins, West Virginia

• West Virginia Bar Association
• Monongalia County Bar Association (President, 2007)
• West Virginia Defense Trial Counsel- member of the Insurance Law Committee and Employment Law Committee
• Defense Research Institute- serving as West Virginia lead for DRI Insurance Law Committee’s State Mobilization Initiative for Local Engagement (SMILE)
• West Virginia University College of Law Visiting Committee
• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance
• Society for Human Resource Management
• Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference
• National Conference of Women's Bar Associations' GOOD Guys Committee

• Morgantown Area Partnership (Board of Directors; Co-Chair, Diversity Committee)
• United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties (President, Board of Directors; Co-Chair, Women United; Member, Nominating and Personnel Committees)
• Generation Morgantown (Founder and former president)

Prior Affiliations

• United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties (Chair, Volunteer Connection Committee)
• West Virginia Public Theater (Board of Trustees, Member)
• Monongalia County Arts Fund (Chair, 2007)
• WVU School of Nursing Visiting Committee
• Morgantown City Fire Civil Service Commission
• West Virginia Business Volunteer Council Member
• Power of 32 Steering Committee Member
• Generation West Virginia
• Monongalia County Partnership in Education (Advisory Board)
• Boys and Girls Club (Board of Directors)
• United Way of Monongalia and Preston County (Citizens Action Review; and Community Visioning committees)
• WVU Children’s Hospital Gala (Planning Committee)
• American Cancer Society (Board of Directors)
• Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce (Ambassadors Committee)