New judge presiding here

Michael Douglas Lorensen was sworn in as West Virginia’s newest circuit judge in a brief ceremony on Friday morning, December 14, in the Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town.

He began work that day as a judge for the 23rd Judicial Circuit (Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties).
Judge Lorensen began presiding in Morgan County Circuit Court on Monday and will be handling the circuit court docket here.

A public investiture ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday, January 10, at the Berkeley County Judicial Center in Martinsburg. A public ceremony also will be scheduled at a later date in Morgan County.

Governor Earl Ray Tomblin appointed Lorensen on November 16 to fill the vacancy created earlier this year when Judge Gina Groh was named to the federal bench in the Northern District of West Virginia.

Lorensen was a partner at Bowles Rice in Martinsburg. He was a reporter at The Dominion Post in Morgantown before he attended West Virginia University College of Law. He is former law clerk to U.S. District Judge Charles Haden II and is a current member of the West Virginia Judicial Hearing Board. He is a former president and board member of the Shenandoah Community Health Center.

Judge Lorensen lives in Martinsburg with his wife, Maria and their two children.