WV Executive

THE YIN YANG is a universal symbol of balance. The black and white design represents opposing forces struggling against each other to create a sense of balance and necessary continuity like summer’s warmth to winter’s chill, and yet both sides of the whole are rooted together, meaning that one cannot exist without the other. Both the yin and the yang of a whole influence change on its opposite, maintaining balance in a constantly evolving environment.

In every facet of life we see evidence of this ancient Chinese philosophy, and the workplace is no exception. Bailey & Wyant has two powerful yet opposing forces reminiscent of the yin and the yang—two opposites within the same whole that are rooted together and affect change within each other. Bob, the yang, is more outgoing and boisterous; Chuck, the yin, is more conservative and serious. When these dynamic forces merge on behalf of their clients, however, the interaction is one of perfect balance as the two power attorneys complete each other, bringing out the best in the other and pushing the other to achieve a greater good.

Chuck Bailey - The Yin

WVE: Where did you grow up?
CB: I grew up in Montgomery, WV. Following my graduation from WVU Law School in 1982, I was given an opportunity to provide legal services to various small to medium-sized oil and gas operators. I worked my way through law school doing title examinations and it was a good opportunity for me. In 1984 or 1985, I was on my way to Denver, CO to specialize in oil and gas transactions because of the tremendous opportunities there. Unfortunately, the market plummeted around that time, and, as fate would have it, I remained in West Virginia. David Schuman offered me a position doing litigation for his expanding firm.

WVE: What was your first taste of entrepreneurial success?
CB: My first entrepreneurial success was while I was in undergraduate school at WVU. In a marketing class, we were required to create a business plan. My group decided to create a true business by silk-screening t-shirts for football games. For instance, we had t-shirts that would use phrases such as “Topple Temple.” The shirts sold very well and our professor was surprised by how much money we made by selling them.

WVE: What has been your most rewarding undertaking?
CB: One of my most rewarding undertakings was representing the West Virginia Institute of Technology under the allegation that WV Tech had discriminated against an individual. Being a native of Montgomery, WV, and having had many family members attend WV Tech, I took great pride that our firm was able to secure a not guilty jury verdict for WV Tech. Through that experience, I learned a great deal about higher education and the challenges facing higher education in West Virginia.

WVE: What are your plans for continued growth at Bailey & Wyant?
CB: While we are primarily a litigation firm, our commercial and transaction practice has been increasing steadily every year. Commercial and transactional work provides a sense of accomplishment.

WVE: You and Bob Martin have such different personalities. How do you create such a good working balance?
CB: Bob and I work together well because we are both experienced litigators and there are very few issues that arise that neither he nor I have not dealt with. Neither one of us is afraid to think outside of the box and we both have a strong commitment to the client.

WVE: How would you describe your differences in personalities or how would you describe Bob?
CB: He and I may have healthy debates over the particular strategy or the means by which to obtain success, but in the end, we are able to have a successful plan. Bob is clearly more avant garde and perhaps more flamboyant than me. Nonetheless, there is a very serious side of Bob when it comes to litigating matters on behalf of the client. Bob sometimes will take a harder line on some issues than I will or he may think of a strategy that is unconventional. More often than not, I prefer the diplomatic approach until the other side demonstrates to me that diplomacy is not going to work. My strategies may be more traditional; however, both Bob and I are willing to look at a problem from different angles.

WVE: Were you friends before you were partners?
CB: Bob and I were not friends before we were partners but the ironic fact is that he and I had many mutual friends while undergraduates at West Virginia University. To this day, we find it bizarre that we did not know each other at the university. I knew Bob professionally for many years, but we never had the occasion to socialize until he became a member of the firm.

WVE: What does Bob do that drives you absolutely crazy?
CB: Bob’s “out there” personality and cowboy style can sometimes drive me crazy. He will also call me at all hours of the day and night to bounce ideas off me despite the fact that I am exhausted from the hard day at the office. Also, his approach to associate development differs from mine and sometimes I need to rein him in. On the other hand, the associates like working with Bob, and I appreciate his assistance on those undertakings.

WVE: What have you learned from working with Bob?
CB: Bob has shown me to not take myself or the work so seriously at times. No matter how difficult the undertaking, Bob can lighten the mood, and that helps me reach a solution to the problem.

WVE: When did you know this was the path you wanted to follow for your life?
CB: As an attorney, you learn and develop an appreciation for the fact that clients are very much dependent on you. Clients rely on you to prepare and represent their interests in the courtroom. They need, want and rely upon your professional advice. It dawned on me one day what a privilege it is to be able to go into a courtroom and stand before the court and tell the court that I represent this individual or company. It is truly a privilege that many lawyers take for granted. I have learned over the years to never take that privilege for granted, and having recognized what a privilege it is has inspired me to continue on this path.

WVE: What role does being a West Virginia company play in your success?
CB: At this firm, we take great pride in being a West Virginia law firm. We started very small, and through extraordinary efforts by many individuals we have been able to grow and prosper. Our attorneys and employees dedicate many hours to charitable and philanthropic activities.

WVE: What part of being a lawyer is most rewarding?
CB: The most rewarding part of being a lawyer is successfully representing your client. Another rewarding part is that being an attorney opens up a lot of doors for you. I have been able to meet people from all walks of life. The successful resolution of a matter for a client, though, is certainly the most rewarding aspect of being an attorney.

WVE: When you look back at your successes, do you feel like you have accomplished everything you’ve set out to do?
CB: I certainly have not accomplished everything that I have set out to do. I do believe, however, that I have met many of the expectations. One of the expectations that I set out to meet, if given the opportunity, was to give back to the West Virginia University College of Law. For example, through my efforts the Class of 1982 created a scholarship. I am also on a four-member committee that will be directing several million dollars toward the West Virginia University College of Law.

WVE: What keeps you motivated?
CB: Solving problems keeps me motivated. I enjoy digging deep into problems and searching for creative solutions. Like most attorneys, I am competitive by nature and competition keeps one motivated.

WVE: How do you manage your time?
CB: I am probably not the best manager of my own time. I manage my clients’ time well, but with my own, I probably do not do a very good job. Nonetheless, I try to remain focused on the client’s needs and interests, and if I do that, the time is spent wisely.

WVE: What would you say is the key to making a relationship like yours and Bob’s work?
CB: If you are going to make a relationship work with someone who is different than you, you must strive to listen to the other person’s side. I know it sounds trite, but you must be a good listener when the person you are working with, or who is even opposite of you, is different in personality and thought. If you listen and remain quiet, you may learn something. I know that I have a tendency to talk too much, but when

Bob and I are engaged in important conversation about a client’s needs and goals, I will listen to what he has to say very carefully because Bob has a tremendous amount of experience and I can always learn something new. Bob and I work well together because we have the same goal—to continue the expansion of the firm and to make sure each client is represented to the best of our ability.

WVE: Is there anything else you would like to add?
CB: I would like to thank all of those clients and others in the legal and professional community who have supported me and the firm. Certainly, my wife, Peggy Bailey, has supported me through some very trying times. I am proud of being the father of two daughters whom I believe will one day make their mark on the state of West Virginia.

Bob Martin - The Yang

WVE: Where did you grow up?
BM: I was born in Montgomery, Alabama. In my first year of life I lived in Cheyenne, Wyoming and Newfoundland. From Newfoundland, we moved to Massachusetts and from Massachusetts to North Africa. From the time we returned from North Africa until 1969, I lived all over the deep south: Mobile, Alabama; Macon, Georgia; Biloxi, Mississippi; Shreveport, Louisiana; Wichita Falls, Texas; Bradenton, Florida; Coco Beach, Florida and Leesburg, Florida. In 1969, I came to West Virginia to attend Greenbrier Military School from which I graduated in 1972. After graduation, I accepted an appointment to West Point in order to play college football. After spending two weeks at West Point, I left to hitchhike to Charleston to my high school roommate’s home in Kanawha City. He was leaving for Morgantown the next day and I decided to accompany him to WVU. I basically spent the decade of the 70s at WVU, attaining my bachelor’s degree, my master’s and my law degree.

WVE: What was your first taste of entrepreneurial success?
BM: When I graduated from law school, I moved to Marlinton, a very small town in eastern West Virginia, and became partners with an older lawyer whose office was open a total of 23 and a half hours a week. I decided immediately that that had to change, so I went to the high school and hired two young women, based on the recommendations of the teachers and guidance counselors, who would work for me as secretaries. They had to attend class half a day and work half a day through their senior year. I paid them very little and taught them how to be legal secretaries. Of course, I was learning how to be a lawyer at the same time. Together, we put together a first-class operation after several months. I went in debt and bought the best possible equipment available on the market and took every single case that came my way. I found that working hard really paid off. I took as many cases to trial as I could, such that in my first five years of practice, I had tried 55 jury trials, including six first degree murder cases.

WVE: What has been your most rewarding undertaking?
BM: Raising my family has been my most rewarding undertaking. I came from a large family of five children and never really wanted a large family, but it just worked out that way. I ended up with five of my own. We certainly had our ups and downs, but overall they all made it through adolescence. Even though they are all as different as compass points, I think their mother and I did a pretty good job of raising five decent human beings.

WVE: What are your plans for continued growth at Bailey & Wyant?
BM: When I joined Bailey & Wyant, I brought with me a very healthy and profitable book of business that I had developed over the last 20 years. I’ve worked hard to integrate my book of business into Bailey & Wyant, and my plan is to continue to grow and develop that book of business and leave it stronger and healthier than at any point for the future of the firm.

WVE: Your personalities are so different. How do you create such a good working balance?
BM: To begin with, both of us have a very conservative side and a very liberal side. The differences, I believe, are in the percentages of both and how they manifest themselves. Outwardly, Chuck is much more conservative than I am and I am more outrageous than he is. However, internally I do not think the differences are that distinct. In terms of the practice of law, Chuck again is much more conservative than I am and I am much more aggressive. One thing is certain: when we agree on something, more often than not we are absolutely right, and when we disagree, we attempt to find the simplest common denominator and work from there.

WVE: How would you describe your differences in personalities or how would you describe Chuck?
BM: First and foremost, I would describe Chuck as being an excellent attorney. He excels in all areas of the practice as an office lawyer, a trial lawyer and an appellate lawyer. A lot of what we do is teaching, and I see in the younger lawyers in our firm that have come up under him many of Chuck’s finer qualities coming through. Another major attribute of Chuck is that he genuinely cares about his clients and their case. He gives as much attention to the smallest of cases as he does to the extremely large cases. Chuck is a very fun-loving person, but he is drastically different from me in terms of the work. I love the work and I try as hard as I can to make it fun and enjoyable. Chuck, on the other hand, is ultra-serious about the work and wants to play when the work is done. Probably our greatest area of friction comes from the fact that he approaches the work so seriously that he gets irritated with me when I try to make something funny. Strangely enough, he has inspired me to try to be more like him in respect to the work in certain ways.

WVE: Were you friends before you were partners?
BM: This, again, is a very odd aspect to our relationship. Chuck and I are contemporaries and we were in college and law school at almost the exact same time. We know almost all of the same people from college, and our core group of friends are significantly similar. Somehow, we did not know one another in college and it was only years later when we were both practicing in Charleston that we got to know one another. Chuck and I were barely more than friends when we got together, though we had a number of contacts over the years, such as I played on his firm’s corporate cup team a few years, we represented co-defendants from time to time in cases and, as always, he and I had a number of friends in common. We really became friends after we became business partners. The greatest real pleasure of my association with Bailey & Wyant has been the development of my friendship with Chuck. It is a friendship that I will value the rest of my life and I consider it a true honor to be friends with a man like Chuck Bailey.

WVE: What does Chuck do that drives you absolutely crazy?
BM: A lot of his strength resides in the details of a project or a case. He is constantly “on me” to pay more attention to the finer points. It drives me absolutely nuts when he “interrogates me” on the finer points and demands answers. What really gets me is that he is usually right.

WVE: What have you learned from working with each other?
BM: Primarily I have learned that there is no “right” approach or “right answer” in the law. We do predominately the same thing. We approach things from very different perspectives in very different ways and we are both successful. Secondly, I truly believe we have learned the wisdom of listening to someone else and considering a different approach.

WVE: When did you know this was the path you wanted to follow for your life?
BM: I always knew I would be a lawyer. I don’t know how or when, but it just seemed like that is what I would end up doing. When I was younger, I toyed with other things like being a professional surfer or an astronaut, but the former was fleeting and I didn’t have the aptitude for the latter. I love trying cases, and one day I looked around and I had attained the reputation of being the guy that would try very, very difficult cases and do not too bad of a job with them.

WVE: What role does being a West Virginia company play in your success?
BM: I really don’t know if I personally would have done as well as I have done in a different place. The beauty of West Virginia is that it is small, the bar itself is small and the trial bar is even smaller. I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to appear in and try cases in all of the counties in the state and I have worked with most of the trial lawyers in the state at one time or another.

WVE: What are your plans for the future?
BM: I plan to spend the next four years with Bailey & Wyant working as hard as I can to help grow the firm, expand the business and leave behind a better place than when I got there. Then I will retire to the Caribbean.

WVE: What part of being a lawyer is most rewarding?
BM: Participating in jury trials and winning. I believe that I am a very reasonable attorney and I try diligently to fairly resolve cases where my client is at fault. Where my client is not at fault or the adverse party is not reasonable, it is very rewarding to have the jury agree with me and return a verdict in my favor.

WVE: When you look back at your successes, do you feel like you have accomplished everything you’ve set out to do?
BM: Absolutely. I have had the opportunity to try hundreds of jury trials. I’ve tried a case to verdict in each of the 55 counties, in more than 20 other states and in one foreign country. I’ve had a number of reported opinions in the federal courts and in the Supreme Court of West Virginia and even appeared before the United States Supreme Court. Overall, I can’t think of anything that I haven’t really accomplished that I set out to.

WVE: What keeps you motivated?
BM: The work. I love the work. I love trials. I love being a trial lawyer. The strategy, tactics and execution of litigation is very stimulating and simultaneously very exhausting.

WVE: How do you manage your time?
BM: As best I can. I work very, very hard and put in long hours. However, I do try to take time for myself by doing some local theater and traveling to Belize to work on my retirement project.

WVE: What would you say is the key to making a relationship like yours and Chuck’s work?
BM: Mutual respect is the key. At the end of the day, I have tremendous respect for Chuck Bailey. He is a fine man and a very, very good partner. I believe that he has somewhat of the same respect for me.