Shepherdstown attorney David Hammer, president of the West Virginia Association for Justice, has entered the race to become a judge in the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit.
David Hammer
Hammer is the first candidate to announce for the seat vacated by the death of Judge John Yoder.
Hammer says he’s running to be a “no nonsense, honest, independent judge who will ensure the fair application of the law.”
Hammer says “does not like the appearance of judicial candidates accepting cash contributions from lawyers and others who appear before the court” and therefore he “will not accept cash donations.”
West Virginians elect their judges in a non-partisan race on primary election day – May 8, 2017.
Each of West Virginia’s fifty-five counties is divided into thirty-one units, known as circuits. Circuit courts hear most civil cases and all criminal cases – misdemeanors and felonies.
Circuit courts also hear appeals from magistrate, family, and municipal courts as well as administrative agencies.
Berkeley, Jefferson, and Morgan counties comprise the Twenty-Third Judicial Circuit. Six judges currently serve this circuit – Bridget Cohee, Laura Faircloth, Michael Lorensen, Debra McLaughlin, Christopher Wilkes, and Thomas Steptoe.
Hammer graduated from William & Mary College, Marshall Wythe School of Law, in 1988 and began his legal career in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
In 1992, Hammer set up his own law firm, along with partners Joe Ferretti and Bob Schiavoni.
The law firm of Hammer, Ferretti & Schiavoni has been a mainstay on King Street in Martinsburg ever since.
Hammer has lived in Jefferson County since 1996 with his wife Euphemia Kallas and their three children.