Can it be that our summer vacation season is winding down and its time to buy school shoes already?  The looks in the faces of my family were a real mix when we realized the holidays were now just a few months away. The kids were delighted; mom and dad are bracing themselves.

Our newsletter this season has some good ideas to ponder as we move into the fall. The hot buzz words right now for politicians, economic developers and business visionaries are “consolidation” and “metro government.”  In this issue, we offer folks a brief introduction regarding this important statutory change for 2006.  Also, Tom Krieger, one of our senior members and the leading employment lawyer in our region, discusses arbitration of employment related claims in West Virginia. Brian Lindsay, who has developed an expertise in asbestos defense, has contributed a must read on asbestos – both the 2003 case-handling rules in West Virginia and the proposed bill now being debated in the United States Senate.

We trust that you continue to find our articles helpful to your business planning. Please contact us with your comments and ideas for future articles.