Webster J. “Jay” Arceneaux handles various commercial litigation cases and practices labor and employment law. He also handles personal injury, commercial and environmental litigation and provides arbitration and mediation services. Mr. Arceneaux is listed in West Virginia Super Lawyers for commercial litigation and is a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.
Mr. Arceneaux has represented parties in a variety of litigation matters in state and federal court including:
- Defense of chemical distributor of Perchlorethelene and Dibromomethane in class action medical monitoring case in the Circuit Court of Wyoming County.
- Defense of business and individuals for property damage claim resulting from adjacent construction of Wal-Mart in the Circuit Court of Jackson County. Related defense of insurance coverage declaratory judgment action pending in United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
- Prosecution in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia on behalf of national wine supplier against local wine distributor for damages for breach of contract and defense of counterclaim for improper termination of wine distribution agreement.
- Defense of employer in the Circuit Court of Monongalia County for sexual harassment with related prosecution in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia seeking enforcement of arbitration clause in an employment agreement.
- 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 Berckeley County's improper ruling regarding prejudgment interest.
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.
- 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 2007-08.
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 on mediation, having spoken and trained mediators throughout the State, and he devotes a substantial portion of his time to mediating cases within West Virginia. He has made numerous presentations across the state related to labor, employment matters, and mediation.
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).