She still doesn’t know what was more shocking. Was it that a state judge had a Colt 45 on his bench during a trial in Wetzel County? Or was it that no one in Wetzel County seemed to care?
Was it because those folks knew Lauren Varnado was a native of Georgia who lives and works in Texas? Maybe they thought she should be fine with guns, right? Even in a courtroom, of course, because it is West Virginia, right?
“I didn’t know what anyone was thinking,” she said a year after representing EQT Corp. in a royalties case. “I had not experienced anything like that, and yes, I do live in Texas.”
According to a July 15, 2022 article written by journalist Chris Dickerson of the West Virginia Record:
Second Judicial Circuit Judge David Hummel was overseeing a trial in a case styled Huey et al. v. EQT regarding royalty payments to landowners. Houston-based attorney Lauren Varnado was leading the legal team representing EQT. The incident in question occurred March 12 during a rare Saturday hearing involving only trial counsel.
And then, four months later, Derek Redd, managing editor of Wheeling’s morning and evening newspapers, reported on Dec. 3, 2022:
Former Second Judicial Circuit Judge David Hummel, who resigned last week, also agreed to never again seek judicial office and accepted a public admonishment from the West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission following several complaints against him.
The complaints against Hummel paint a picture of a judge who belittled children who came before him, who improperly used funds meant for the court and also one who violated his own rules concerning handguns in the courtroom.
Varnado’s truth, and the fact video proved the Texas attorney’s claims against the judge, gained national attention.
“It was crazy, but it was OK at first because people found out I was telling the truth the whole time and I really didn’t mind the attention that came from the article in People because that publication reaches a lot of different people, and I believe everyone should be aware of what does and can take place in our courtrooms,” said Varnado, managing partner of Michelman & Robinson LLP in Houston. “I would hope what happened to me in Wetzel County was an isolated incident, but I’m already hearing that there have been more locally, and more across the country involving other people on the bench. And that’s crazy to me.
“So, if someone read the People Magazine article and decided to do the same things I did to correct the situation, good for them. That’s exactly why I agreed to do that interview,” she continued. “But I’ve been asked by other publications that I’ve turned down because I’ve never been involved with this whole thing because of the attention. Trust me, I could have done without any of this.”
March to March
Varnado has been interviewed by print and radio media outlets in the Upper Ohio Valley, and last week was a guest on River Talk-Ohio Valley. The Texas attorney was back in the region handling matters in western Pennsylvania.
She’ll return to the Mountain State, too, whenever necessary.
“I’ve really come to love West Virginia because it’s beautiful here, and I love the people, too,” Varnado said. “The people are the best part every time I travel back on business.
“I’m sure I’ll continue getting a lot of the phone calls because those have not stopped coming in since all of this went national, but otherwise, I’m done with it,” she said. “Professionally, I moved on immediately, and now that’s taking place on every other level. I’m good.”
The Daily Beast, a popular digital media website, was the first to publish Varnado’s story, and since the news has spread across the world.
“I don’t mind when people ask me if I’m ‘that attorney’, and I do answer their questions when they ask. But that’s the kind of person I am, too,” Varnado said. “One of the first things I do, though, is crack a joke by saying, ‘Oh, you saw those reports?’ That usually gets a chuckle out of them, but then we always move to their questions and what they want to know.
“I tell everyone who asks that this kind of corruption is everywhere and not just in West Virginia. It’s actually rampant in state courts across the country,” she insisted. “If there is something good that can come from my whole experience, it’s that people will not be afraid to report the issues they experience instead of being afraid of a judge or afraid of the system. It’s very tough in rural areas because everyone knows everyone in those communities, and if you don’t know the right people it’s very difficult to get justices in a lot of cases.”
Along with her complaint, Varnado said the state Judicial Investigation Commission also heard from several residents who expressed concerns about cases involving children.
“When people speak their truth it can inspire others to do the same thing,” Varnado said. “That’s what we saw happen in my case because most people don’t want to be the first person to speak up. That’s really, really common in situations like these and usually, nothing opens up until after the first person speaks up. You see it takes place that way all of the time.
“Plus, when my situation broke loose, I had some lawyers in this area contact me and thank me because of what they say they have experienced in the past,” she said. “Because of them, the resignation and the admonishment were what needed to take place, in my opinion.”
