Beth Walker (judge)

Beth Walker is a Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. She was elected in the non-partisan election on May 10, 2016. She began a 12 year term in January 2017. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the same office in 2008.
She stated that she was running for the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia because West Virginians deserve a fair and impartial court system. She stated that she understands the importance of the role of the Supreme Court as an independent branch of government. She was generally considered the right-most of the four serious candidates in the election.
Prior to taking the bench, Walker was an attorney for West Virginia University Medicine. Prior to that, Walker was a partner in the law firm of Bowles Rice, where she concentrated her statewide practice on labor and employment law for more than 20 years. She has advised large and small employers in a wide variety of industries including manufacturing, energy, health care, financial services, professional services and associations and retail sales. She also has experience representing higher education entities, municipalities, counties and boards of education in the public sector.
In 2012 Walker was elected a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, which is an international membership association of more than one thousand of the best and brightest lawyers who practice in labor employment law.
A 1987 summa cum laude graduate of Hillsdale College, Walker earned her law degree in 1990 from The Ohio State University, where she was Articles Editor for The Ohio State Law Journal.
She was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth and Sixth Circuits, District Courts in West Virginia and Ohio and the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
She is a 1999 graduate of Leadership West Virginia and past Chair of that organization’s Board of Directors. She also is a past president of the board of Kanawha Pastoral Counseling Center. She is past Board Chair and current board member of Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council. Walker also serves as vice chair of the Human Resources Committee for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce.
She is married to Mike Walker, an attorney and former Executive Vice President of Cecil I. Walker Machinery Co. They reside in Morgantown, West Virginia.
Her election means that the court will have a female majority until at least the 2020 elections.