Brenda Waugh cares most about one thing when she is working with her clients: the client! She brings her passion for justice and compassion to improve the client’s well-being in every case she works on, whether it involves negotiating with an insurance company, mediating a conflict between co-workers, or helping a family develop a future in a collaborative divorce. Brenda cares about you!
Brenda brings over thirty years of experience to this work. While she has ample experience in the courtroom as a litigator, she has received additional education and training in mediation and negotiation to broaden the skills she can bring to help clients solve their legal problems. She provides these options and works with clients to chart the best course for the client.
Brenda has litigated, negotiated, or mediated thousands of cases during her lengthy career. As a young lawyer, she worked with Legal Services as an advocate for victims of family violence and consumers. Later, she litigated hundreds of cases, prosecuting offenders in cases involving child abuse and neglect in both Kanawha and Berkeley Counties and winning several cases before the state Supreme Court.
After starting her private practice, Brenda determined that she needed to broaden her skills to provide clients with more options and earned a master’s degree from Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peace 2009. She has since mediated hundreds of cases, including those involving families, workplace disputes, small business, estate and probate disputes, and civil cases. In 2011, she added collaborative practices to the options that she offers when she completed training and became a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.
Brenda has experience as counsel for the West Virginia Senate Judiciary Committee and as a clerk with the West Virginia Supreme Court. She has published articles in law journals, including those published by Yale University and the Journal of Legal Education. She has conducted dozens of seminars throughout the United States and Canada, often on alternative ways to approach legal problems, restorative lawyering, and lawyer wellness. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and West Virginia University School of Law.
Brenda is married with three children, one grandchild, and a terrific dog, London. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley, where she never tires of hiking and enjoying the outdoors. She is active and has completed three marathons, a metric century bicycle event, and six triathlons.
