Charleston Attorney Jonathan Mani Named WVAJ President
CHARLESTON, WV (June 24, 2020) – Jonathan Mani has been named president of the West Virginia Association for Justice. He is a partner with the Charleston firm of Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC. His primary practice areas are nursing home neglect and abuse, medical malpractice and catastrophic injury.
“It is an honor to serve as president of the West Virginia Association for Justice,” Mani said. “It means a lot that our members and my colleagues have placed their trust in me to represent their interests and guide their organization over the next year.”
An important aspect of that work will be leading the association’s ongoing work to preserve access to our civil justice system and trial by jury.
“Our right to trial by jury is one of the most important constitutional rights we have as Americans,” Mani said. “It is only in our courtrooms that every West Virginian is equal to the most powerful and wealthy individuals and corporations. The rich and powerful want to restrict access to our courts because they don’t want to be held accountable when they cheat or harm consumers, workers, and small business owners. That’s wrong.”
Mani continued: “John Adams wrote that ‘representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty.’ We must work together to protect our constitutional rights and access to our civil justice system. Our 7th Amendment rights are just as important as our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights.”
Mani also wants to collaborate with the full West Virginia Bar to improve the state’s courts and public perception of the legal community.
“Lawyers and judges need to come together to share information and ideas so that we can make the practice of law better in our state,” Mani said. “Attorneys are representing different people and different interests, but we’re doing the same job. Our profession is under attack. Working together we can not only find ways we can do our jobs better, but also improve our courts, increase access to justice, and improve public opinion of lawyers.”
Raised in Charleston, Mani earned a degree in accounting from West Virginia University and earned his J. D. from the WVU College of Law. He began his legal career as a medical-malpractice defense attorney with a Charleston firm, but it became apparent to Mani that he wanted to represent the people of West Virginia instead of big insurance and out-of-state corporations. He joined friend and colleague Damon Ellis at a Charleston plaintiffs’ practice.
“I still remember the names of some of those first clients I represented,” Mani said. “They needed help, and I was able to assist them. You know you’re making a real difference, and there’s something very gratifying about that.”
Mani and Ellis left the firm and opened their own practice in 2004. It expanded to Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC in 2007 with the addition of third partner Bernie Layne. Layne is a past president of WVAJ.
Jon is married to Erica Mani, CEO of the American Red Cross West Virginia Region. They have two children, Xander, 13, and Eliza, 9.
About Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC
Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC has been recognized for the quality of its legal work in personal injury cases and for its record of services with clients. The three attorneys at the firm are all natives of West Virginia and care about their friends and neighbors who are struggling to survive after an accident or injury.
All the firm’s attorneys are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an elite, invitation-only group comprised of the top achieving injury lawyers in the nation. Each partner also has the highest possible peer-review rating from Martindale-Hubbell®, AV Preeminent® in personal injury law.
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured and you think you may have a case, contact the attorneys at Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC, right now.