Ashley has significant experience representing employers in a variety of labor and employment matters, including employment litigation, sexual harassment investigations, unfair labor practice and union representation cases. She also practices media and First Amendment law, advising newspapers and media outlets on prepublication review, FOIA and open records, advertising, and defamation issues.
She leverages a thorough knowledge of employment law to help steer clients through myriad challenges, having represented clients in the banking, health care, retail, and energy and natural resources industries. Understanding that labor and employment cases often take unique twists and turns, she works closely with business owners, human resource managers and in-house counsel to learn each client’s operations and objectives before tailoring an approach to fit the circumstance. She has teamed with her clients to offer counseling on an array of employment law matters, including employee discipline, termination, and employee policies and procedures. Ashley also handles Title VII and West Virginia Human Rights issues for clients, including all manners of discrimination claims and litigation. She has successfully represented clients in mediations and arbitrations, as well as before state and federal courts and administrative agencies. She litigated several Section 10(j) injunctive relief cases and recently obtained a defense verdict in an employment contract dispute.
Ashley also advises newspapers and media outlets on prepublication review, advertising, and defamation issues. Having practiced in both Kentucky and West Virginia, she leverages a thorough knowledge of First Amendment matters with an industry-level understanding of the challenges facing the media.
The office managing partner, she is AV-Rated and listed in the Best Lawyers®and Super Lawyers® and is very active in the community, sitting on various nonprofit boards. She was selected by the Benchmark Litigation’s “Under 40 Hot List.” She graduated from Leadership WV and is an active speaker and writer. She also is a recipient of the 2012 Generation Next 40 Under 40 award from The State Journal. Ashley is also a member of the firm’s Board of Directors.
Ashley was appointed by West Virginia’s governor in 2024 to serve as one of five members of the West Virginia Industrial Council, which is charged with overseeing the worker’s compensation insurance market in the state.
