CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Association of Justice presented its lifetime service award to former state Supreme Court Justice Margaret Workman on Wednesday.
The organization gave Workman its 2021 Caplan Award in celebration of “her lifetime of service to the West Virginia courts and the practice of law.”
Workman served as a circuit court judge for eight years and a state Supreme Court justice from 1989 to 2000 and 2009 to 2020, which included serving as chief justice on five occasions. Workman is the first woman to have been elected to the state Supreme Court and statewide office.
“For more than 40 years, Justice Margaret Workman has been a leader in West Virginia and our state’s legal community. Her contributions to the practice of law and management of our state courts are innumerable. Her work resulted in substantial improvements to West Virginia’s court system and how cases are handled, especially in the areas of domestic violence, cases involving children and juvenile justice, civil litigation, and court administration,” organization president Jonathan Mani said.
“Justice Workman also blazed a path for women attorneys and women professionals. At a time when most women lawyers were still in support roles, Justice Workman opened her own law practice and then became the youngest circuit court judge in the state.”
The organization also named House of Delegates chief counsel Dan Greear as this year’s Public Servant of the Year and Kris Whiteaker as the Stanley Preiser Member of the Year.