Howard E. Seufer, Jr.

Howard Seufer has spent more than 45 years advising and representing West Virginia’s county boards of education, working with all 55 boards across the state. His education law practice addresses school board governance, board–superintendent relations, finance, human resources and student rights. As the senior member of the Bowles Rice Education Law Practice, he counsels education leaders on legal questions that affect the operation of public schools.

Howard has served as legal counsel to the West Virginia School Board Association since 1983 and is West Virginia’s longtime liaison to the National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys. He is also a member of the National School Attorneys Association. State and local policymakers seek his views on proposed education legislation and policy. Through presentations, writing and discussions on school law, he emphasizes practical approaches that help education leaders anticipate legal issues.

He co-founded the Bowles Rice Signature Series Workshops, an invitation-only program that has provided more than 300 interactive, small-group sessions over two decades. The full-day workshops have offered legal instruction to hundreds of public-school administrators, with a focus on challenges they encounter in their work. Howard has been recognized by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America.

Howard’s civic roles have included service as chair of the Education Alliance, where he is now an emeritus director, and as chair of the boards of SW Resources Inc. and the Board of Governors of Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. He serves as a director and officer of the West Virginia Civic Education Foundation and the West Virginia Mansion Preservation Foundation. He has also served on visiting committees for West Virginia University’s College of Law and its President’s Office for Social Justice. In 2018, West Virginia Executive named him to its “Sharp Shooters” class in recognition of his leadership and philanthropic contributions. He continues to volunteer with Read Aloud West Virginia, reading to elementary students in Kanawha County.

• Adams v. Boone County Board of Education, No. 20-ICA-277 (W. Va. ICA, 2024) (grievance expenses)

• Berkeley County Council v. Government Properties Income Trust, LLC, 247 W.Va. 395, 880 S.E.2d 487 (2022) (assessments for taxation purposes)

• Gonzales v. The Board of Education of Cabell County, No. 2022 WL 123710 (W.Va. Sup. Ct. of App., 2022) (administrator insubordination)
• Redd v. McDowell County Board of Education, 2022 WL 1506071 (W.Va. Sup. Ct. of App., 2022) (teacher evaluations)

• Miller v. Marion County Board of Education, 2020 WL 7231114 (2020) (untimeliness of grievance complaint)

• Mayle v. Barbour County Board of Education, 2018 WL 317375 (2018) (filling aide/ECCAT vacancies).
• Monongalia County Board of Education v. American Federation of Teachers – West Virginia, AFL-CIO, 238 W.Va. 146, 792 S.E.2d 645 (2016) (RESA interventionists in the schools)
• Yatauro v. Calhoun County Board of Education, 2016 WL 5030280 (2016) (state-ordered contract reductions without hearings)
• Lemasters v. Jackson County Board of Education, 2016 WL 2977336 (2016) (teacher duty outside the school day)
• Adkins v. Cabell County Board of Education, 2016 WL 3435749 (2016) (accused felon’s suspension)
• Sayre v. Mason County Board of Education, 2016 WL 143435 (2016) (lengthening the workday)
• Williams v. Raleigh County Board of Education, 2015 WL 6181485 (2015) (service employee reclassification)
• Smith v. Berkeley County Board of Education, 2015 WL 7628692 (2015) (administrative fact finding)
• Staats v. Jackson County Board of Education, 2015 WL 6181438 (2015) (hours worked)
• Smith v. Berkeley County Board of Education, 2015 WL 2364292 (2015) (unemployment compensation and "other gross conduct")

J.D., West Virginia University College of Law (1977)

• National Moot Court Team

B.A., Michigan State University (1973)

• With High Honor

• Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of West Virginia

• Martindale-Hubbell Overall Peer Rating: AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5.0
• Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers for Education Law in Charleston, West Virginia (2024, 2016). Only a single lawyer in each practice area and community is honored with a "Lawyer of the Year" award from Best Lawyers.
• Named to The Best Lawyers in America (Education Law), since 2003
• 2021 Mentor of the Year Award, West Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Section 
• West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow
• West Virginia University College of Law Order of the Coif, Order of Barristers
• Selected to the West Virginia Super Lawyers list, 2018 - 2021
• Recognized by West Virginia Executive as a 2018 Sharp Shooter