MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (Hinton News) – Paul W. Gwaltney, Jr., will be sworn in as the newest judge in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit (Monongalia County) during a ceremony at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 2, at the Monongalia County Justice Center. Senior Status Circuit Judge Russell M. Clawges, Jr., will deliver the oath of office.
On May 11, 2023, Governor Jim Justice appointed Mr. Gwaltney to replace Judge Susan
B. Tucker, who retired April 28.
Mr. Gwaltney was admitted to the West Virginia Bar in October 2003. He graduated in the top 15 percent of his class in May 2003 from West Virginia University College of Law, where he served as executive research editor of the Law Review his third year of law school, and as an associate editor his second year. Before law school, he worked as a clerk in the Education Department for the Louis A. Johnson Veterans’ Administration Medical Center. Mr. Gwaltney has an undergraduate degree from Bob Jones University, where he participated in the South Carolina Student Legislature and also judged high school debates.
Mr. Gwaltney leaves an active criminal defense practice, where he served numerous counties in North Central West Virginia. During the first 17 years of his practice, he was a civil litigator. In December 2020, he opened Gwaltney Law Office with the sole purpose of representing individuals in criminal and juvenile abuse cases. Most days in the last two years have included hearings in multiple courthouses, and at least one stop at a regional jail to meet with clients.
Mr. Gwaltney married the former Lydia J. Board of Fairmont in 1998. In 2004 the Gwaltneys moved to Morgantown, where they raised two daughters, both of whom are attending West Virginia University. The family attends Calvary Chapel Morgantown.
