Gwaltney to be sworn-in as the newest judge in Monongalia County Friday

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. The newest judge in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Paul W. Gwaltney, Jr., will be sworn in Friday at 1 p.m. at the Monongalia County Justice Center. Governor Jim Justice appointed Gwaltney to replace Judge Susan B. Tucker, who retired on May 11.

Gwaltney graduated in the top 15 percent of his class in May 2003 from West Virginia University College of Law and also served as executive research editor of the Law Review in his third year of law school and as an associate editor in his second year. Before law school, he worked as a
clerk in the Education Department for the Louis A. Johnson Veterans’ Administration Medical Center. Gwaltney also has an undergraduate degree from Bob Jones University, where he participated in the South Carolina Student Legislature and also judged high school debates.

Prior to the appointment, Gwaltney had an active criminal defense practice serving numerous counties in North Central West Virginia. During the first 17 years of his practice, he was a civil litigator. In December 2020, he opened the Gwaltney Law Office with the sole purpose of representing individuals in criminal and juvenile abuse cases.

Senior Status Circuit Judge Russell M. Clawges, Jr., will deliver the oath of office.