Taylor Downs
CHARLESTON – Fairmont attorney Taylor B. Downs recently was named the 2026-27 president of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“Personally, it’s very meaningful to be the president of the organization that represents more than 500 trial lawyers in West Virginia and to be able to advocate for issues important to trial lawyers and, by doing that, issues important to people,” Downs told The West Virginia Record. “To have the confidence of our membership is important.
“The West Virginia Association for Justice has members who are some of the very best trial lawyers in the country. I have been a member since graduating from law school in 2011, and it is a privilege to be an advocate for WVAJ, our members, their clients and our civil justice system.”
“People try to discredit West Virginia in general and count us out, but I think our history has some legal giants … nationally recognized trial lawyers from our state. We are really proud of our membership.”
Downs joined Manchin Injury Law Group in 2011 as an associate and became a partner in 2015. The firm has offices in Fairmont, Morgantown and Martinsburg.
He said he hopes to energize members to be more active, and he wants to work to ensure members have access to certain resources.
“It’s important that people at large understand what trial lawyers do,” Downs told The Record. “It’s important to understand trial lawyers work to make things safer. They help people in some of the most difficult times of their lives, and I think it’s important that the public knows that.
“For a long time, being a trial lawyer has had a negative connotation. And it shouldn’t. Advocating for our clients, for what we do, for what we stand for and for the good works we do in our communities.”
Downs said it’s important to remember many trial lawyers also are small business owners.
“That is often overlooked, especially when talking about legislative issues,” he said. “Outside of that, we are, as a whole, active in our communities. We volunteer with local charitable organizations … both time and monetary contributions.
“We not only protect people’s rights, we also are active and integral in our communities to make them safer and better.”
As for the upcoming legislative session, Downs said he wants to make sure the WVAJ continues to protect the constitutional right to a trial and jury.
“I want to work with lawmakers to make sure they know we’re willing to work with them to make our court system better,” he said. “That includes making them better, more efficient and working on laws. We want to make things better.”
Downs says access to justice is his and the WVAJ’s first and foremost priority, particularly when working with the state Legislature.
“That doesn’t mean tort reform,” he said. “That (tort reform) doesn’t create jobs. It doesn’t do anything for the citizens of our state, but it does continue to line the pockets of big insurance companies.
“In today’s environment, it’s extremely difficult because people are in their corners. I find that if you just talk and have conversations and form relationships, most oftentimes people want to do the right thing. They just don’t want to get there the same way. But by forming those relationships, having those discussions with legislators who might have a different viewpoint, legislation should be about compromise and discussion. Far too often, it’s not.
“Continuing our history of forging relationships with legislators, having those discussions, knowing where they stand, them knowing where we stand, finding where we can work with them. That is difficult, but I think more people need to be open to sitting down and having relationships.”
Downs said his interest in law began when he was a child. In elementary school, he said he drew an ad for the Law Office of Taylor Downs that includes the headline, “Do You Want Justice?” That drawing is framed and hangs in his office.
“I always knew this is what I wanted to do,” he said. “My grandfather, Bob Burkhart, served as a Berkeley County commissioner and circuit clerk. I saw how he helped people, and I equated that public service with the law.
“I decided then that I wanted to be a lawyer to help people as well. I saw that I could make a real difference for people.”
As a law student, Downs worked with Martinsburg attorney Harry Waddell. He joined Tim Manchin’s law practice after graduation.
“Since the time I hired Taylor as an associate, he has been devoted to securing and maintaining the rights of West Virginians, and he is now my law partner,” Manchin, a former WVAJ president, said. “His 15 years of commitment to this work has been recognized by his peers, who have elected him to serve as president of the West Virginia Association for Justice.
“I know that he will not only fulfill, but exceed their expectations in this role.”
Downs’ practice areas include personal injury, medical malpractice, deliberate intent and premises liability. Originally from Martinsburg, Downs is a graduate of Shepherd University and the West Virginia University College of Law. In addition to his work with the WVAJ, Downs is a past member of the American Association for Justice Board of Governors.
Downs is big on community involvement. He has served the United Way, the Marion County Rescue Squad Board, the South Fairmont Rotary Club and the Fairmont State Foundation.
“The community is good to us, and we need to be good to the community,” he said. “Outside of my legal work, I try to be a good steward to the community.”
Downs lives in Fairmont with his wife Missy and their son Henry.
