By Ashley Perham
Charleston Gazette-Mail
For Davis, the 3-year-old son of Gerald M. Titus III, the best part of his dad’s new job as Supreme Court justice is going to “The Mountain,” as he calls the West Virginia Capitol building that houses the Supreme Court.
Titus has been coming to the Mountain since December, when Gov. Patrick Morrisey appointed him to fill the seat of former Justice Tim Armstead, who died in August.
Titus was officially sworn in Wednesday afternoon by Chief Justice Haley Bunn in front of a few hundred friends, family and colleagues, including his wife, Meredith, and children, Nora, Brandt and a napping Davis.
Problem-solving skills
A Spencer native, Titus graduated from Washington and Lee University. Since 2009, he has worked for Spilman, Thomas & Battle in several practice areas.
“Clients want to hire the subject-matter expert. Somehow, I got away with being a generalist,” Titus said in a speech Wednesday. “Looking back on it, I think it’s probably because I always look for ways to solve problems.”
Titus said his problem-solving traits came from watching his father, Gerald Titus Jr., practice law in Spencer. By the time he was 5 or 6 years old, he knew he wanted to be an attorney like his father.
“My mom said, ‘What do you want for Christmas?’ and obviously I said, ‘I’d like to have a briefcase and pin-stripe suit,’” Titus said.
Thursday morning, Titus said hearing his three children talk about their dreams inspired him to think of his own dreams.
“I believe my highest, best use of my legal training and experience is to work to uphold the rule of law and promote a fair and impartial judicial system for all,” he said. “I have a desire to help make West Virginia be the best it can be.”
New colleagues
After the ceremony, Titus said there’s been no ramp-up period in his first weeks on the job. Instead, he’s just started doing the work of the court.
He said he felt well-prepared, because of his broad legal experience and his new colleagues.
“[They] all have the same goals in mind, which is the impartial administration of justice and ensuring the public has confidence in our legal system,” he said.
All of his new colleagues also spoke at the ceremony.
Justice Tom Ewing, who was appointed in August to fill the seat of retired Justice Beth Walker, told Titus it takes time to adjust to the weight of the robe.
“The weight of this robe is way more than a few pounds of polyester or wool or cotton,” he said. “It’s obviously the consequences of the decisions that we have to make while we’re wearing the robe, and you never really know how much it weighs until you put it on.”
Bunn said she’s known Titus professionally and personally. The two have never been on the same side in a legal case, she said.
“Justice Titus is perfectly suited for this job. He has a breadth of experience and a commitment to being pre-pared, studying well and learning the subject matter and yet a wonderful quality of not getting stuck inside the box,” she said. “He has already demonstrated that he’s willing to think about things in a different way.”
Armstead’s void
All the justices said Titus gets along with the rest of the bench.
“As much as we absolutely miss our friend Justice Armstead, Gerald has filled a void … in a different way that works,” Bunn said. “It’s very important that the five of us get along. It’s better for the court, it’s better for the state, when we’re collegial and we disagree in a good way.”
Titus said in an interview that Armstead meant so much to the court legally and personally.
“Every day when I walk into the Capitol, I think ‘I’m going to sit in the seat of a justice who served with unquestionable integrity, dedication to his duties and very important that the five of us get along. It’s better for the court, it’s better for the state, when we’re collegial and we disagree in a good way.”
Titus said in an interview that Armstead meant so much to the court legally and personally.
“Every day when I walk into the Capitol, I think ‘I’m going to sit in the seat of a justice who served with unquestionable integrity, dedication to his duties and humility such that those qualities were universally recognized,’” he said. “I think every day that it’s my responsibility to do my best to try to bring those same qualities to my duties.”
Foster care awareness
In addition to his work on the bench, Titus wants to continue to raise awareness for the foster and kinship care crisis in West Virginia. He previously served on the board of Mission West Virginia, a nonprofit that provides a variety of foster and kinship care services.
“To the extent that I can draw attention to that issue, I want to continue to do that,” he said in the interview. “To the extent that I can do anything within the court system to help any of our cases pertaining to children move faster, I want to do that also.”
Titus said his concern for this issue came from his daughter, Nora. Now 10, Nora came home from kindergarten and told Titus about a friend she’d met who described herself as a foster child.
“To me, it was an idea of otherness. I thought, ‘This child is not an “other” or something different. This child is just a West Virginia child,’” he said. “These children in the [foster and kinship] care system belong to all of us, and I mean all West Virginians. They’re all of our responsibility.”
What’s next
Titus and Ewing each must run in the May election this year for the rest of their predecessor’s terms. Ewing’s seat would be up for election again in 2028 for a new 12-year term. Titus’ seat would be up for election again in 2032.
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