Executive Council

Carte's practice includes litigation and appellate advocacy, as well as advising clients on government relations, intellectual property matters and commercial transactions.

After serving as general counsel to the West Virginia governor from 2005-2009, Carte returned to his family law practice Goodwin & Goodwin, which he initially joined in 2000. In July of 2010, Carte was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the passing of a U.S. senator. He is currently serving on the United States – China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Carte serves as the Member-in-Charge of FBT's Charleston office. He is also a principal of CivicPoint, the firm's subsidiary.

Representative Experience

Representing clients in appeals and civil litigation throughout West Virginia’s state and federal courts.

Representing clients in mass and class action litigation.

Representing clients in various commercial transactions as well as the formation and organization of business entities.

Representing clients in government affairs.

Representing clients in the preparation and registration of federal trademark applications, license agreements and intellectual property litigation.

Education

Marietta College, B.A., Philosophy, magna cum laude 1996

The Emory University School of Law, Doctor of Law, 1999; Order of the Coif, Executive Notes & Comments Editor, Emory International Law Review, Authored “Live, In Concert and Beyond: A New Standard of Contributory Copyright Infringement.” 13 Emory Int’l L. Rev. 345 (1999).

Tracey Eberling focuses her practice in the areas of labor and employment law and litigation, with a concentration in the defense of institutions, professionals, insurance companies and governmental entities. Ms. Eberling has tried numerous cases in the trial courts of Maryland and West Virginia, and has argued cases in the appellate courts of both states as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. She is a member of the firm's General Litigation group, the Professional Liability and Long Term Care group and the Education Law team.

Key Experience

Defended employers in wage payment and collection and retaliation claims

Defended local law enforcement agency and officers in civil rights litigation

Sought dismissal of premises liability action for national retailer and a local board of education

Memberships & Awards

The Best Lawyers in America®

Defense Research Institute

Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia

Chair, Pro Bono Committee, Washington County Bar Association

Volunteer of the Year, Martinsburg-Berkeley Chamber of Commerce 2006

Chairman, Board of Directors, Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce

Immediate Past President, Board of Directors, Martinsburg-Berkeley Chamber of Commerce

Past President, Board of Directors, United Way of the Eastern Panhandle

Since admission to practice in West Virginia’s state and federal courts, Ms. Chapman has focused her practice in litigation. She has extensive experience in the defense of mass tort claims, premises owner and manufacturer, as well as the defense of personal injury, contract, and commercial litigation. She enjoys work on behalf of plaintiffs, including gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and race discrimination.

Ms. Chapman has extensive experience in education and administrative law. She is a founding member of the West Virginia Council of School Attorneys and was appointed to the West Virginia Board of Education by Governor Gaston Caperton for a nine-year term in 1996, twice serving as president. While on the State Board of Education Ms. Chapman served on the West Virginia School Building Authority, the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission, and chaired the search for the hiring of the State Superintendent of Schools. Ms. Chapman is a past president of the West Virginia State Bar (2009-2010). While serving as an officer of the State Bar, she sat on the Visiting Committee of the West Virginia University College of Law and on the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform. She is a Member of the National Conference of Bar Presidents and served on its Executive Council.

Dedicated to public service, Ms. Chapman has served on the boards of West Liberty University, the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, and the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra Auxiliary. Ms. Chapman is married to Patrick S. Casey, and they have three children.

PAUL J. PRUNTY is a partner in Prunty Law Offices in Huntington, West Virginia, where he has a general practice with an emphasis on wills and estates, real estate, taxes and business and corporations. Mr. Prunty earned his bachelor of business administration degree from Marshall University and doctorate of jurisprudence from the University of Dayton School of Law. He is a member of the Cabell County Bar Association, West Virginia Bar Association, West Virginia State Bar, and Ohio State Bar Association.

Heather J. Gentile is Underwriting Counsel and Office Manager of BesTitle Agency’s Morgantown, West Virginia office.

Ms. Gentile’s practice is focused on residential and commercial real estate matters. She is an accomplished attorney with extensive experience in residential and commercial real estate and corporate transactions, including  title examinations, title insurance, opinion letters, closings, financing, acquisitions and sales, deeds, leases, easements and rights of way, development, land use, foreclosures, coal/oil and gas, curative work, multi-state secured financing, legal due diligence and manufacturing and vendor and supply agreements.  Ms. Gentile is a detail-oriented, effective and efficient attorney with over 20 years of practice in transactional law, a respected leader in the legal profession and active in her local community.

Ms. Gentile is a 1993 graduate of West Virginia University’s School of Business where she received her Bachelor of Science Business Administration and a graduate of the West Virginia University College of Law in 1996 where she received her legal degree.

Work History

• BesTitle Agency, Inc. (2019-Present)
• Jackson Kelly PLLC (2002-2019)
• Reeder & Shuman (1996-2002)

Practices Areas

• Residential Real Estate
• Banking & Finance
• Commercial Lending

Industries

• Banking
• Construction
• Financial Services
• Hotels & Hospitality
• Manufacturing
• Mining

Education

• West Virginia University College of Law (J.D., 1996)
• West Virginia University (B.S. in Business Administration, Finance, 1993)

Admissions

• Pennsylvania (2010)
• West Virginia (1997)
• West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1997)
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia (1997)

Professional Organizations

• Pennsylvania State Bar
• West Virginia State Bar
• Monongalia County Bar Association
• West Virginia Bar Association

Community

• Board Member, Bartlett House, Inc. d/b/a Bartlett Housing Solutions
• Volunteer/Supporter and past Board Member, Main Street Morgantown
• Volunteer/Supporter, United Way of Monongalia and Preston Counties

Mr. Ford’s primary practice is general litigation, including class actions, commercial litigation and business torts, product liability, deliberate intent, and employment-related matters.

Education

• West Virginia University, B.A., summa cum laude, 2013
• West Virginia University, J.D., 2016

Experience

• Representing clients in numerous class action lawsuits, ranging from medical malpractice, fraud, and negligence claims to violations of the West Virginia Wage Payment & Collection Act
• Representing employers and commercial clients in deliberate intent, fatality, and serious personal injury litigation
• Representing health care clients in a wide variety of litigation
• Representing commercial clients in litigation concerning breach of contract, tortious interference, express and implied indemnity, and declaratory judgments
• Representing various state entities in litigation
• Representing product manufacturers and suppliers in construction litigation
• Representing employers and commercial clients in premises liability lawsuits
• Representing corporations in matters involving derivative claims, disputed dissolutions, and corporate governance issues
• Representing a state institution of higher learning in various matters involving claims made by students and staff members
• Representing employers in litigation involving discrimination and harassment
• Representing employers in developing employment policies, practices, and procedures
• Representing plaintiffs in litigation involving a catastrophic explosion

Distinctions

• JD Supra Readers' Choice Top Author, Product Liability Law, 2020
• Order of the Coif
• CALI Excellence Awards ­– Natural Resources, Bankruptcy, Sales & Secured Transactions, Contracts II
• 2015 American Bankruptcy Institute Medal of Excellence

Admissions

• West Virginia State Bar
• United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia
• United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia

Memberships

• American Bar Association
• West Virginia Bar Association
• Defense Research Institute

Ms. French is a Partner in the firm’s Charleston office. She regularly advises employers as to the implementation of employment policies, provides training to employees, and conducts internal investigations on employee complaints. She has had a particular focus on discrimination claims, sexual harassment claims, and claims for wrongful discharge and retaliation.

As part of her work with employers, Ms. French has an active practice in construction litigation and claims for deliberate intent. Throughout her legal career, she has consistently practiced in the field of insurance defense litigation, including bad faith. Ms. French has also assisted employers with audits conducted by the Department of Labor and Wage and Hour Division.

She has focused a considerable part of her practice on assisting employers and credit unions with various employment issues and litigation arising under the Federal Credit Union Act and the West Virginia Consumer Credit Protection Act.

Ms. French has trial experience in both state and federal courts involving: workers’ compensation discrimination claims, deliberate intent, wage payment and collection cases, public policy claims, retaliatory discharge, trade secret protection, RIFs, restrictive covenants, transportation and trucking, and personal injury.

Specific examples of her work include: representing various trucking companies at trial throughout southern West Virginia; representing multi-national media and information firm at trial in a retaliatory discharge and wage payment and collection case; defending at trial a Forbes 200 Global Company specializing in robotics, and power and automation technology; defending companies at trial in cases involving allegations of OSHA and MSHA violations; and representing companies at trial in workers’ compensation discrimination and deliberate intent cases. In addition, Ms. French has handled trucking accidents and blasting cases.