As a proud native of Charleston, West Virginia, Harry F. Bell, Jr. has dedicated his time to practicing law in West Virginia for over 33 years. He has been recognized as a Super Lawyer® by Super Lawyers Magazine, and has been named by The American Trial Lawyer Association as one of the Top 100 Civil Trial Lawyers® in West Virginia.
Harry has participated in nearly one hundred trials, and he has spoken nationally at various seminars, including Mass Torts Made Perfect, The Combined South Carolina Judiciary and South Carolina Bar Annual Meeting, and the West Virginia State Bar Association. He also presented the topic, “MDL Exit Strategies” before the Louisiana State Bar Association’s 10th Annual Class Action/Mass Tort Symposium.
Throughout his career, Harry has been involved in numerous successful class action litigations. He served as Liaison and Co-lead Counsel in the Digitek product liability case (2:08-md-01968), and he served on the Plaintiffs Steering Committee (PSC) during the Comcast Anti-Trust litigation (09-md-02034-AB).
Additionally, Harry served on the PSC and the Plaintiffs’ Co-liaison Counsel for several noteworthy pelvic repair system product liability cases, including American Medical Systems (2:12-md-02325), Boston Scientific Corp. (2:12-md-02326), C. R. Bard Inc. (2:10-md-02187), Ethicon Inc. (2:12-md-02327), and Coloplast Corp. (2:12-md-02387).
He has also served in various capacities as special master and mediator appointed by state and federal courts in West Virginia.
In 1977, Harry began his legal pursuits by graduating from West Virginia University College of Business with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree Cum Laude in Economics, followed by his J. D. degree from the West Virginia University College of Law in 1980.
While in law school, Harry worked as a law clerk for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. Upon graduation, he returned to Charleston and began his trial experience as an Assistant Deputy Prosecutor in Kanawha County, West Virginia. Later, he joined the firm of Kay, Casto & Chaney where he subsequently became a partner while learning litigation under his mentor, the late John S. Haight, Esquire. For over a decade, Harry defended numerous product liability and complex civil litigation matters while working for Kay, Casto & Chaney.
In 1993, Harry founded The Bell Law Firm, PLLC, which is recognized as one of West Virginia’s leading complex litigation firms that represents both individuals and businesses in class action, MDL, and medical malpractice cases. The firm and its attorneys are also highly regarded for their work with nursing home abuse and neglect cases.
