Attorney Profile

Webster J. “Jay” Arceneaux handles litigation matters in a variety of areas including: commercial, consumer, employment and labor, personal injury, including toxic torts, and environmental. He also provides arbitration and mediation services for parties in West Virginia and other States. Mr. Arceneaux has received an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell; he is listed in Best Lawyers in America for Litigation, Labor and Employment, and Mediation; he is listed in West Virginia Super Lawyers for Business Litigation, Employment and Labor and Alternative Dispute Resolution; and he is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.

Mr. Arceneaux was recognized by Best Lawyers as Lawyer of the Year for his Mediation Practice for 2019.

Mr. Arceneaux has represented parties in a variety of litigation matters in state and federal court including:

• Defense of a chemical distributor of Perchlorethelene and Dibromomethane in a class action medical monitoring case in the Circuit Court of Wyoming County and before the Mass Litigation Panel in the Circuit Court of Raleigh County.
• Defense of law firms and financial institutions in claims alleging civil penalties and common law damages for violations of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
• Defense of an employer in claims under the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act for unpaid commissions in United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
• Defense of employer in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County for sexual harassment. That matter resulted in a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia decision affirming the Circuit Court of Monongalia County’ s order that the sexual harassment case was required to be arbitrated in State ex rel. Clites v. Clawges, 224 W.Va. 299, 685 S.E.2d 693 (2009). The case was subsequently settled before the arbitration hearing.
• Representation of the Appellants before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia in a minority shareholder dissent action under the prior code provisions of W. Va. Code § 31-1-123 concerning the inadequate value of shares set by a Special Commissioner and the Circuit Court of Berkeley County's improper ruling regarding prejudgment interest. The Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part in Dodd. v. Potomac Riverside Farm, Inc.,222 W.Va. 299, 664 S.E.2d 184 (2008).

Mr. Arceneaux is trained by the American Arbitration Association as an arbitrator and he is frequently sought out to handle the mediation and/or arbitration of complex cases including:

• Mediation of class action against employer for age discrimination resulting from reduction in force.
• Mediation of numerous consumer cases alleging violations of the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
• Arbitration under AAA of wrongful termination claim filed by employee against national fast food restaurant chain.
• Arbitration under AAA of insurance coverage dispute arising from personal injury at mine accident.
• Mediation of class action for improper drug testing against national retail chain store.

Mr. Arceneaux has been appointed to serve as a Special Commissioner for discovery matters by the Honorable Jennifer Bailey Walker, Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia, from July, 2002 to the present and he has also served as a Special Commissioner for discovery matters for other Judges in the Circuit Courts of Kanawha and Berkeley Counties, West Virginia. He was also appointed by the West Virginia Human Rights Commission to serve as an Administrative Law Judge Pro Tempore in one case in 2007-09. A copy of the decision in Smith v. Montgomery General Hospital can be found at http://www.wvf.state.wv.us/wvhrc/2008-2009%20Decisions.htm

Mr. Arceneaux earned his undergraduate and law degrees from West Virginia University in 1977 and 1980. He is admitted to practice before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals; the United States District Court, Southern and Northern Districts of West Virginia; the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit; the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit; and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Arceneaux started his practice in 1980 as a Law Clerk to Justice Thomas Miller, Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. He also served from 1985 and 1986 as the Deputy Attorney General, Environmental and Energy Division, State of West Virginia.

Mr. Arceneaux has handled numerous appellate matters before the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and he argued before the United States Supreme Court in Buckhannon Board and Care Home, Inc., et al. v. West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, et al., 532 U.S. 598 (2001).

Mr. Arceneaux is a recognized authority in West Virginia on mediation and arbitration. He has taught continuing education seminars on the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act, arbitration and mediation and he has trained mediators throughout the State. Mr. Arceneaux devotes a substantial portion of his time to arbitrating and mediating cases within West Virginia. He has mediated and arbitrated consumer, employment, insurance and personal injury matters.

Mr. Arceneaux is the author of “Potential Criminal Liability in the Coal Fields Under the Clean Water Act: A Defense Perspective, “ 95 West Virginia Law Review 691 (1993).