Lawyers all over the country, as well as physicians, omnibus men and others in the legal and medical professions, spend a great deal of time trying to convince us all to have a “living will.” Some of us understand what a living will is, while others have vague thoughts about the living will and what can be accomplished by creating a living will. But what is a WV living will and do you really need one?

As an estate planning attorney, I see a lot of wills that were created online at various websites or using in fill in the blank forms.  Despite a will likely being the most important financial planning document a person can have, it is astonishing how many people attempt to create their own wills without the assistance of a professional.  While many view estate planning as a “morbid” or “haunting” experience, most of my clients would tell you that it is simple, necessary, and relatively painless.

On April 21, 2017, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, finding the meaning of the phrase “arising out of asbestos” found within a policy exclusion to be unambiguous and overturning a more than $36 million dollar judgment against Travelers Insurance.

On April 11, 2018, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals issued its opinion in an appeal of a Board of Review decision denying a WV workers’ compensation meal reimbursement claim. The court determined that West Virginia workers’ compensation law allows reimbursement for meal expenses during travel for an independent medical exam (IME) located 100 miles away from the claimant’s home. The court’s decision has broad implications for workers and employers across West Virginia.

The West Virginia Supreme Court has cleared the way for the state’s right to work law to finally go into effect.  This law, called the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act, prevents employers from entering into agreements with unions that require employees to either join a union or pay a service fee to the union.  The law was enacted early in 2016, right after the Republican party took control of the state’s legislature. On September 15, 2017, the state’s high court struck down a preliminary injunction that had prevented the enforcement of the Act, thereby paving the way for the West Virginia right to work law to go into effect.