Published: May 16, 2008 08:29 am      

Judge in Scooter Libby case to speak in Beckley at bar association banquet

U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who presided over the criminal case of Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, will be the keynote speaker for the Mountain State Bar Association’s annual Awards Banquet and Gala on Saturday in Beckley.

The banquet will be held at the John W. Eye Conference Center at Mountain State University.

Walton, who earned his undergraduate degree at West Virginia State College and his law degree from American University, was nominated to the federal bench in Washington by President Bush in 2001 and subsequently confirmed by the U.S. Senate. A year ago, Chief Justice John Roberts appointed him to a seat on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Walton, a native of Donora, Pa., who attended West Virginia State on a football scholarship, served as an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1981 to 1989 and from 1991 to 2001, and also served as associate director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Walton is known as a “tough-on-crime” judge, according to The Washington Post. In 2005, he was driving his wife and daughter to the airport when he came across an assailant attacking a cab driver on the side of the road. Walton tackled the assailant and subdued him until police arrived.

Another highlight of Saturday’s event will be the presentation of scholarships to Brown W. Payne fellows. This scholarship program is designed to aid disadvantaged and/or minority students who will attend law school to prepare for a legal practice in West Virginia. The program is named for the late Brown W. Payne, a local attorney.

Other highlights include the presentation of local outstanding high school student awards.

The MSBA will convene in its annual meeting Saturday at Country Inns & Suites in Beckley.

Activities kick off with a continuing legal education seminar titled “A Practice Primer.” Registration for the seminar is $125 onsite and will be held on the campus of Mountain State University in Room 211 of the newly constructed Wiseman Hall. The seminar is worth 5.0 CLE credits for West Virginia attorneys.

For information or tickets, contact Wilbert A. Payne at 252-6478. Tickets to the banquet are $40 per person.