Education

Mark Peake has been practicing law in the areas of personal injury, insurance defense, civil litigation, products liability, and criminal defense since 1988. He has extensive trial experience in Virginia’s state and federal courts, and he has successfully appealed a number of cases to the Supreme Court of Virginia. He is a former President of the Lynchburg Bar Association. In addition to his law practice, Mark represents Virginia’s 22nd Senate District in the Senate of Virginia, which includes the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Prince Edward County, and parts of Louisa County and the City of Lynchburg. In the Virginia Senate, Mark serves on the Courts of Justice Committee, the Transportation Committee, the Education and Health Committee, and the Privileges and Elections Committee. Mark is a 1985 graduate of Virginia Tech, and he received his legal education at Washington & Lee University, where he was a member of the Washington & Lee Law Review.

Born in the tiny coal-mining community of Williamson and raised in Parkersburg, West Virginia, by blue-collar working-class parents who placed a premium on hard work, honesty, and personal integrity, Bernie Layne of Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC learned from an early age that his path to success would have to be paved with over achievement. While both of his parents grew up in abject poverty that can only be understood or imagined by those who have experienced day-to-day life in ‘coal camp’ housing in southern West Virginia, they became acutely aware of the value and necessity of education and sweat equity as a means of rising above their circumstance. It is from this culture and environment that Bernie’s parents instilled in him, and his two sisters, to never forget where they have come from and to always use their God-given talents and abilities to help people around them who are disadvantaged, hurting, disabled, destitute, or who are being abused by those in a more powerful position than themselves in society. Growing up in Parkersburg, just across the river from Marietta and Belpre, Ohio, he gained a deep, abiding respect for the hardworking people on both sides of the border. Rising from the social position of an ‘underdog,’ it isn’t hard to understand how Bernie has come to embrace these roots by becoming a highly successful legal advocate and defender of the rights of injured working-class West Virginians and Ohioans. A Strong Competitive Spirit As you can imagine, it takes tremendous family support and lots of competitive spirit to become one of only a few college graduates in his family and to become the first lawyer in his immediate or extended family. That love for competition was introduced to him as a child, by his father, an accomplished sportswriter at the Williamson Daily News. Bernie developed a love for the game of basketball and baseball and eventually earned a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Charleston in Charleston, West Virginia. As a college student-athlete, Bernie was introduced to the importance of academic and athletic discipline, teamwork, handling success and overcoming failure. As his dream of playing professional baseball faded, his commitment to personal development and higher education strengthened. Before leaving UC, Bernie was named the Ivor F. Boiarsky Award Winner, which annually recognizes the top Political Science Student in the graduating class, won a statewide award for his senior thesis, in the area of Public Law Policy, on the pitfalls and environmental evils associated with an inadequate and corrupt strip mine permitting system in West Virginia, was voted by his peers as the Student Body President and was chosen by the administration to deliver the commencement address on behalf of his graduating class, while sharing the stage with the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. Inspired to help the disadvantaged Using his undergraduate success as a springboard, Bernie went on to attend graduate school at The Ohio University, where he received a Master of Arts Degree in Sociology. After graduate school, Bernie returned to Appalachia where he worked with elderly and disabled individuals through the Title 19 Medicaid Waiver Program in Southern West Virginia. The year spent working with catastrophically injured people through Title 19 firmed his resolve and commitment to make a difference in the lives of the hardworking citizens of this state. This experience made Bernie aware of the obstacles that face disabled and poverty-stricken individuals and the myriad of statutory and legal hurdles they face, while unable to afford adequate legal assistance to address their needs. Bernie’s disappointment in the legal system and its treatment of handicapped, disabled, and elderly individuals led him to attend law school at The University of Dayton School of Law where he graduated with his Juris Doctor in the Spring of 1999. After finishing law school, Bernie remained in Dayton as a judicial extern for The Honorable Barbara Gorman, the first female judge of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. In the years following his law school graduation, Bernie has remained committed to preserving the rights of injured and disadvantaged citizens of our state and has limited his practice to cases which involve people who have been injured due to the negligence of another person, corporation or governmental body. Throughout his career, he has successfully taken on big corporate asbestos producers who exposed plant workers and pipefitters to deadly and cancer-causing asbestos fibers. He has successfully confronted coal mining companies that deliberately injured workers through a neglect of OSHA regulations and state laws designed to protect this state’s workers. Further, Bernie has successfully resolved wrongful death cases involving children, medical malpractice and poorly designed products by large corporate interests who chose to place profits as a priority over the safety of our citizens. In 2021, Mani, Ellis & Layne, PLLC expanded to a new office in Columbus, OH. For Bernie, who earned both of his graduate degrees in Ohio and has many close family members in Columbus and the surrounding towns, this was a homecoming of sorts, an opportunity to advocate for hardworking people throughout both Ohio and West Virginia. Recognized by his peers Bernie’s success and achievement have been greatly rewarded as he and his partners have built an accomplished law firm at Mani Ellis & Layne, PLLC. His professional attributes and success have also been noticed by his trial lawyer peers. In 2005, he was given the Distinguished Service Award by the West Virginia Association for Justice (WVAJ), which is a group that represents the interests of the injured and disabled in West Virginia. Attorney Layne has been a member of WVAJ and the American Association for Justice for more than a decade. He is past president of WVAJ, serving from June 2013 to June 2014. He has also served on the WVAJ Executive Committee (nine years), the WVAJ Board of Governors and as a member of the LAWPAC organization. He was recently invited to join the prestigious, Southern Trial Lawyers organization and has been apponted to The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center where he serves on its Executive and Building & Grounds Committees. Additionally, he served a two-year stint as a member of the West Virginia Bar Association’s Judicial Campaign Advertising Committee, which sought to regulate unfair, unethical and untruthful advertising during judicial campaign election cycles. In 2013, he was appointed to the University of Charleston Board of Trustees and served on the Executive and Outreach Committees within that board. He is now serving his twelfth year on the board. In 2014, he was named Alumnus of the Year at the University of Charleston. In 2017, he was appointed chairman of the Welch Challenge Campaign, an $8 million fund-raising initiative at the school. Also in 2013, Mr. Layne received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating attorneys can achieve from that organization. Only 2% of all practitioners nationwide earn that rating. In 2018, Bernie was selected to the West Virginia Super Lawyers list by his peers. Bernie has obtained several significant verdicts and settlements and has been granted membership in the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. On a community level, Bernie recently completed a seven-year term on the Putnam County Career and Technical Center’s Healthcare Advisory Board, on which he worked with other community leaders to design, implement and guide the LPN Nursing Program at the school. His efforts in this area are consistent with his desire to work toward broad based community and rural health care initiatives which support healthcare for the underprivileged throughout our state’s communities.

Mr. Segal thrives on the practice of law and his arena of choice is the courtroom. He concentrates on representing catastrophically injured people or the estates of those killed due to the negligence of others. Some of the types of cases he handles involve industrial accidents, aviation tragedies, tractor trailer crashes, train wrecks, mining accidents, electrocutions, workplace injuries, and injuries from defective products. Mr. Segal also has a major practice emphasis on class action litigation and complex mass litigation. The types of class and complex cases he has handled includes asbestos litigation, pharmaceuticals, insurance practices, and a wide range of consumer matters. A few catastrophic injuries are the result of fate. Law, engineering, science and medicine are the tools with which we stop the irresponsible. Education Mr. Segal earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Vermont in 1977. He earned his J.D. in 1981 from the West Virginia University College of Law. Mr. Segal excelled in trial and advocacy skills during law school. He was a member of the Moot Court Board, the National Appellate Competition Team and the National Trial Competition Team. He achieved recognition with the award of the prestigious Order of the Barristers and the Marlyn E. Lugar best advocate award. He has been an avid supporter of both the University of Vermont where he received the Alumni of Achievement Award and West Virginia University, where he was honored with the Most Loyal Alumni Mountaineer Award. Significant Cases Mr. Segal has many significant accomplishments for his clients. For instance, he recently obtained a $25 million jury verdict for a physician who had been treated improperly by a hospital. Mr. Segal was co-trial counsel in litigation regarding the improper payment of gas royalties to thousands of West Virginians. The jury awarded $405 million to the plaintiffs. Mr. Segal was co-lead class counsel in the West Virginia diet drug litigation, which was successfully resolved. He was co-lead class counsel in the West Virginia litigation involving the diabetes drug Rezulin, which is one of the few such cases in the country to overcome legal challenges and reach resolution. Mr. Segal was co-lead class counsel in OxyContin litigation in West Virginia. Mr. Segal was in the forefront of asbestos litigation and has successfully tried and resolved over 15,000 asbestos and/or mesothelioma cases. Professional Associations Mr. Segal is a member of and involved in numerous professional associations. In 1998, Mr. Segal was inducted into the Inner Circle of Advocates, which has a limited membership of one hundred of the best plaintiffs’ trial lawyers in the United States. Some of his other associations include: the American College of Trial Lawyers, the American Association for Justice – Leader’s Forum, the American Board of Trial Advocates, the West Virginia Association for Justice – Board of Governors, and The Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. He was the co-chair of the Legal Aid of West Virginia’s Campaign for Legal Aid. He teaches continuing legal education seminars regularly in West Virginia and throughout the country. Community Service Mr. Segal believes that commitment to community service is a vital part of honoring the responsibility of being a lawyer. He has been engaged in community service activities since the beginning of his law practice. He is currently serving or has served on numerous boards providing philanthropic guidance, including the United Way Board of Directors, West Virginia Symphony Board of Directors, Thomas Memorial Hospital Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Southern West Virginia Board of Directors, and the National Youth Science Foundation Board of Trustees. Mr. Segal and his wife, West Virginia Supreme Court Justice, Robin Jean Davis, are the founders of the Segal & Davis Family Foundation, which supports charitable causes benefiting children and animals. Personal Mr. Segal and his wife, West Virginia Supreme Court Justice, Robin Jean Davis, live in Charleston, West Virginia, with their young son and golden retrievers. Mr. Segal enjoys architecture and photography and used his skills from these interests to guide the design and building of their home. Mr. Segal is an avid skier and has loved the sport since childhood. He and his family enjoy regular ski trips to Colorado. Mr. Segal and his young son have succeeded in conquering the ski mountains of Colorado together and have earned the Talon Challenge Medal. Mr. Segal and his family also enjoy biking and hiking throughout the mountains of West Virginia.

Derek is a native of Lancaster, South Carolina and a graduate of Lancaster High School. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 2007 from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. While at Presbyterian, Derek was named to the Dean’s List, worked in the student center, and was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity. Immediately following undergraduate school, Derek sought his Juris Doctor degree from Charlotte School of Law in Charlotte, North Carolina. While attending law school, Derek studied abroad at the St. Mary’s University Institute on World Legal Problems, where he studied under an international faculty, including United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. After completing his education, Derek decided that the best use of his legal education would be to serve his hometown area. He began his legal career at a small firm in Lancaster, where he represented clients on a broad range of matters, including domestic, civil, criminal, and probate issues. Derek joins the Schiller & Hamilton team to head the firm’s newly reopened Lancaster Office to continue serving his hometown. He will focus his practice on family law and probate matters, as well as personal injury and accidents. Derek is an avid outdoorsman when not practicing law, and enjoys hunting and fishing throughout the year. He was awarded the Eagle Scout rank in 2001 while a member of Troop 72 of the Boy Scouts of America in Lancaster. Derek currently serves as an Area Chairman of Ducks Unlimited, leading the Lancaster County Chapter’s committee of volunteers to raise money and awareness to preserve and protect wetland habitat. In 2013, Derek completed the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce’s “Leadership Lancaster” program, a course designed to educate potential community leaders about the history, needs, and goals of Lancaster County. Derek and his wife, Natalie, are active in their church and community and enjoy traveling and spending time with family and friends.

Roger Dixon is the founder and managing attorney of Dixon Law Firm, LLC. His practice includes family law, criminal defense, general civil litigation, school law, and probate. After a distinguished career in public education teaching English and journalism, Roger Dixon entered the Charleston School of Law in 2006. While in law school Roger served two externships as a law clerk with the Charleston and Colleton County Public Defender’s Offices, where he gained valuable experience in criminal law and criminal trial practice. Roger also won the law school’s Cali Award for Excellence in Domestic Relations, became trained as a volunteer Guardian ad Litem, and was awarded the Charleston School of Law Pro Bono Award for his dedication to public service. With 15 years of experience in the field of public education, Roger is particularly skilled in representing clients in dispute with public schools, especially with regard to students with special needs, students charged with crimes in schools, truancy, suspensions, expulsions, and teacher/district relations.

When you speak with Ben for even a few minutes, it’s impossible to ignore his energy. His enthusiasm comes both from his roles as Attorney, Chief Executive Officer, and Owner at CHASENBOSCOLO, and, more importantly, his passion for people. When it comes to his clients, he is a trial lawyer whose sole focus is on fighting for his client’s rights. Ben cannot tolerate a world where working men and women are not treated fairly by the legal system. Ben and the CHASENBOSCOLO team believe in better. They work tirelessly to hold wrongdoers accountable and help their clients overcome troubles. Ben was taught the importance of the right way to earn respect at a young age by his grandfathers - one of whom immigrated from Italy and the other who was a mechanical engineer. Throughout his life, he’s seen firsthand how people in power take advantage of honest, hard working men and women. Ben is thankful the skills his education and experience have helped develop. He believes he is obligated to use these skills to fight for those of us who are stepped on and bullied. This uncompromising integrity and commitment to clients has allowed him to help grow the firm from one lawyer to more than thirty lawyers. Practicing law is more than just verdicts and settlements—Ben fights for true change. He works to make sure that not only his clients’ rights—but just as importantly the rights of others—are protected for years to come. In each cases he handles, Ben demonstrates a commitment to pursuing justice for us all. For example, he once represented an injured truck driver who was denied workers’ compensation benefits on the ground that he was a sub-contractor and not an employee of the company. The truck driver initially lost his case. Ben could not imagine giving up on his client.He and his team faced the challenge by appealing to the highest court in the District of Columbia, where they won. CHASENBOSCOLO's efforts not only got the truck driver the benefits he needed to care for his family, but also expanded the coverage of the workers’ compensation law to protect more of men and women who work in the District of Columbia. As a consequence of fighting for his client Ben protected the rights of men and women who work in the District of Columbia.

Frederick W. Nessler has been practicing law throughout the state of Illinois and the United States for over 40 years. Mr. Nessler opened his law office in Lincoln, Illinois in 1977. Since that time, he has helped injured people recover hundreds of millions in compensation for the injuries they suffered due to the negligence of others. Mr. Nessler has been awarded numerous recognitions throughout his career, each of which is detailed below. Nessler & Associates now has offices in Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Decatur, Lincoln, Rockford, Sherman, and Chicago, Illinois. Nessler & Associates also maintains offices in Denver, Colorado; Ft. Worth, Texas; Orange, Texas; Largo, Florida; Tampa, Florida and St. Petersburg, Florida.

William J. Stogsdill is the founder and managing member of The Stogsdill Law Firm, P.C, a ten-attorney firm, concentrating in domestic relations law, located in Wheaton, Illinois. William earned his Juris Doctorate from John Marshall Law School in 1974 and was admitted to the Bar on October 1, 1974. William was also licensed to practice in the Northern District Federal Court since 1974 and licensed to practice in the United States Supreme Court in 1980. To schedule a consultation with Attorney Stogsdill, visit his website, or call 630-462-9500. After Hour New Client Telephone Number: 630-690-6077

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Michael Schreyer is an advocate for the injured. He is a leader among injury attorneys in the state of Maryland, and across the greater Washington, DC region. Mr. Schreyer’s experience and record of success in the courtroom has led to the recognition of his skills, including: a “National Recognition of Achievement in Civil Trial Advocacy” from the Million Dollar Advocates Forum; “Preeminent,” from Martindale-Hubbell; “Superb” from AVVO; as well as membership in Super Lawyers. Mr. Schreyer currently serves as a member of the Interstate Trucking Group of the American Association of Justice, which provides leadership and education for the nation’s advocates for victims of catastrophic injuries in tractor trailer and bus collisions. Mr. Schreyer also serves as a member on the National Advisory Board of the Association of Plaintiff Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America (APITLA). He is also an active member of the Medical Malpractice Section of the Maryland Association for Justice. In the past, Mr. Schreyer has served in the position of Chairman of the Negligence, Insurance and Workers’ Compensation Section of the Maryland State Bar Association. He has tried cases and negotiated claims with some of the largest insurance companies in the world. His experience as a personal injury and workers’ compensation attorney has taken him to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States, the Court of Appeals of Maryland, and many of the trial courts in Maryland and Washington, DC. Mr. Schreyer has seen first hand the devastating physical and financial toll an injury can cause when others violate rules of safe conduct. He understands that without a fair and full verdict, an injury victim may never fully recover. Whether he is working on a car collision, truck crash, motorcycle wreck, pedestrian injury, construction catastrophe, medical malpractice or workers’ compensation case, Mr. Schreyer understands that each client faces a unique set of challenges. He applies his extensive knowledge of personal injury law, insurance, evidence, medicine and loss of earnings and disability to address the specific circumstances of each of his clients. He has been doing that since graduating from one of the nation’s top 20 law schools, The Washington and Lee University School of Law, and receiving a Juris Doctorate in 1988. Mr. Schreyer’s passion for aiding others has led him to contribute to a wide variety of organizations, including the Pope John Paul II Academy, and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Following the September 11, 2001, Pentagon and Twin Towers attacks, Mr. Schreyer was honored for his charitable representation of a victim through the Trial Lawyers Care Project of the American Association for Justice. While his litigation resulted in an award of more than one million dollars for a wounded hero, he accepted no legal fee for his work.