Margaret Lee Workman was born on May 22,1947 and is an American lawyer and a former justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.
26 Facts About Margaret Workman
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Margaret Workman's father was a coal miner, and his ancestors were some of the first settlers of Boone County, West Virginia.
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Margaret Workman attended public schools in Kanawha County, West Virginia.
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Margaret Workman attended Morris Harvey College for one year and received her undergraduate degree from West Virginia University.
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Margaret Workman received a degree in law from West Virginia University College of Law.
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Margaret Workman was the first person in her family to attend college.
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Margaret Workman later returned to West Virginia to work with Professor Franklin D Cleckley in his private practice of law.
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Margaret Workman became a law clerk for the 13th Judicial Circuit in West Virginia.
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Margaret Workman then opened her own law practice in Charleston, West Virginia.
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Margaret Workman inherited the largest backlog of cases in West Virginia, and during her tenure, reduced said backlog to the lowest in the circuit.
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Margaret Workman held more jury trials than any other circuit judge during her tenure.
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Margaret Workman was elected to the Supreme Court in 1988 for a 12-year term, expiring in 2000, making her the first woman elected to this position and the first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia.
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Margaret Workman then entered the Democratic primary in 2002 and 2004 for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district seat, but lost both times.
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Margaret Workman then ran again for the court in 2008 and was elected.
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Margaret Workman previously served as chief justice in 1993,1997,2011, and 2015.
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Margaret Workman retired when her term expired on December 31,2020.
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In 1993, Margaret Workman received the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Association's Excellence in Criminal Justice Award.
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Margaret Workman has received the Susan B Anthony Award, the Celebrate Women Award for Government and Public Service Award, and the WVU College of Law Women's Law Caucus Distinguished Women in the Law Award.
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Nevertheless, Huntington trial attorney Ketchum and former Justice Margaret Workman beat out Beth Walker for seats on the Court.
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Margaret Workman was unopposed in the primary and became the Democratic nominee.
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Margaret Workman faced former state senator and 2000 Democratic nominee for the seat, Jim Humphreys, in the May nominating contest.
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Margaret Workman's election made her the first female Justice on the Supreme Court and first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia.
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Spring 1988: Then-circuit court judge Margaret Workman decided to run for one of two seats up on the Supreme Court.
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Margaret Workman joined fellow attorneys Fred Fox and John Hey as challengers to incumbent Justices Darrell McGraw and Thomas Miller.
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Fox, Hey, and Margaret Workman ran against McGraw and Miller and labeled them as "judicial activists" during their time on the bench, accusing them of aiding special interest groups, such as labor unions, personal injury claimants, workers' compensation claimants, and criminal defendants.
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However, Margaret Workman did edge out incumbent McGraw to become the Democratic nominee for the second seat.