Tonya practices law from Litchfield Cavo LLP’s West Virginia office where she acts as senior trial counsel to numerous local, regional and national clients. She provides counsel and representation in a variety of litigation matters including employment law, trucking law and medical professional liability. Tonya has devoted her career to the defense of corporate and industrial clients in cases before the West Virginia state and federal courts. She has extensive experience at all levels of litigation, alternative dispute resolution and trial. Tonya’s intimate knowledge of the legal landscape in West Virginia provides her exceptional insight into strategies for efficient and effective resolution of pre-suit and litigated disputes. She utilizes a case-specific approach when defending her clients, bringing their cases to their most favorable resolution, regardless of complexity.
Tonya has represented several employers in cases alleging discrimination, hostile work environment, harassment, retaliation and wrongful discharge. She has also represented corporations in cases that involve catastrophic industrial accidents, mining accidents, motor vehicle accidents and other incidents resulting in allegations of wrongful death, traumatic brain injuries, severe burns and other significant injuries.
Practices
Representative Matters
- State ex rel. Maxxim Shared Servs., LLC v. McGraw, 242 W. Va. 346, 835 S.E.2d 590 (2019)
Representative Experience
- Prevailed on summary judgment for our industrial plant and metal manufacturing client against business and property owners’ claims that they owned several acres of our client’s industrial plant operations via an existing defective deed, and also asserted rights to exorbitant rent payments; the Circuit Court agreed with our attorney and ruled in favor of our client.
- Represented industrial client in case involving fatality of a contractor resulting from on-site explosion.
- Represented construction company in case alleging millions of dollars of property damage from construction of natural gas pipeline.
- Represented hair salon in extensive burn injury case involving products liability allegations, including failure to warn.
- Represented international manufacturer in case alleging product defect causing injury.
- Represented hair salon in extensive burn injury case involving products liability allegations, including failure to warn.
- Represented multiple nursing homes in cases alleging wrongful death of a resident.
- Successfully appealed lower court ruling resulting in new point of law, limiting employees’ ability to recover damages for witnessing catastrophic event resulting in co-worker’s death.
- Represented numerous employers and individual supervisors in various discrimination and harassment cases asserted in both the West Virginia Human Rights Commission and the circuit courts.
- Obtained summary judgment in employment case alleging age discrimination following corporate reduction-in-force.
- Obtained summary judgment in employment case alleging racial and gender discrimination.
- Represented multiple national trucking chains in numerous cases alleging significant orthopedic and traumatic brain injuries arising from motor vehicle accidents.
- Represented design engineering firm in multi-fatality case alleging negligent design of an intersection.
- Represented transportation network (ride share) organization in case arising from motor vehicle accident.
- Obtained defense verdict in slip-and-fall case, representing national restaurant chain.
Education
- Washington and Lee University School of Law, JD, 2004
- Order of the Coif
- Marshall University, BA, Psychology, 2000, summa cum laude
Admissions
- West Virginia
- United States District Courts: Northern District of West Virginia, Southern District of West Virginia
- United States Court of Appeals: Fourth Circuit
Languages
- English