Jackson Kelly PLLC was ranked in the first-tier of the 2016 Best Law Firms rankings released this week by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers. Jackson Kelly’s Mining practice and Natural Resource Practice were both recognized on the national level for “professional excellence” and “impressive rating from clients and peers”.

On the metropolitan level, the firm ranked in the first-tier in the following offices and practice areas:

Akron, OH:

• Litigation – Construction

Charleston, WV:

• Administrative / Regulatory Law
• Arbitration
• Banking and Finance Law
• Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
• Commercial Litigation
• Corporate Compliance Law
• Corporate Law
• Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
• Employment Law – Management
• Energy Law
• Environmental Law
• Financial Services Regulation Law
• Government Relations Practice
• Health Care Law
• Insurance Law
• International Arbitration – Commercial
• International Arbitration – Governmental
• Labor Law – Management
• Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants
• Litigation – Banking & Finance
• Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Litigation – Environmental
• Litigation – Labor & Employment
• Litigation – Mergers & Acquisitions
• Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
• Mediation
• Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
• Mergers & Acquisitions Law
• Mining Law
• Natural Resources Law
• Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
• Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
• Project Finance Law
• Public Finance Law
• Tax Law
• Water Law
• Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Denver, CO:

• Energy Law
• Mining Law

Indianapolis, IN:

• Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Lexington, KY:

• Construction Law
• Environmental Law
• Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
• Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
• Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Morgantown, WV:

• Commercial Litigation
• Criminal Defense: White-Collar
• Employment Law – Management
• Health Care Law
• Labor Law – Management
• Litigation – Labor & Employment
• Litigation – Trusts & Estates
• Public Finance Law
• Trusts & Estates Law
• Workers’ Compensation Law – Employers

Pittsburgh, PA:

• Mining Law
• Natural Resources Law

The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer reviews from leading attorneys in their field and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer listed in the 21^stEdition of The Best Lawyers in America^© for that particular location and specialty.

Client Focus, Industry Insight, National Reputation. Jackson Kelly PLLC is a national law firm with more than 175 attorneys located in twelve offices throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Colorado and the District of Columbia. With a focus on companies working in and around the energy industry, the Firm works with its clients to help resolve their operating challenges by teaming to develop and implement strategies that minimize risks, quickly and effectively. Focusing on clients’ industry-specific needs, the Firm serves a wide variety of corporate and public clients and enjoys a national reputation in business, labor and employment, litigation, government contracts, tax, safety and health, permitting, natural resource and environmental law. The Firm’s clients and peers recognize its commitment to providing superior client service as Jackson Kelly has repeatedly been selected as a Go-To Law Firm for the Top 500 Companies in the U.S. and is regularly named to BTI’s Client Service A-Team.

By Susan Stamper Brown

Apparently, integrity and critical thinking are not qualities found in today’s mainstream media.

We know this after watching the CNBC-hosted Republican debate billed as one which would focus on “the key issues that matter to all voters—job growth, taxes, technology, retirement and the health of our national economy.”

Obviously, that did not happen.

Instead, Americans watched moderators with the seeming intellectual prowess of June bugs disrespectfully hurl boneheaded attacks and stupid questions at GOP presidential hopefuls, offering millions of viewers a front row seat to observe proof positive they are nothing more than extensions of, and left-wing propagandists for, the Democratic Party.

For this gift we should be thankful.

Americans needed to see this irrefutable idiocy for themselves. CNBC promised candidates an opening question on financial or economic issues but instead were lowballed with: “Tell us your biggest weakness in 30 seconds.” Later, one moderator went so far as to ask a ridiculous question about fantasy football.

It was almost as if moderators didn’t want crucial matters discussed, circumventing any possibility of intelligent debate with off-the-wall questions and personal attacks. In fact, a Media Research Center analysis found that 65 percent of the “questions” posed by moderators John Harwood, Carl Quintanilla and Becky Quick “hit the candidates with negative spin, personal insults or ad hominem attacks.” Ad hominem attacks like asking if one of the candidates was running “a comic book version of a presidential campaign” or disparagingly asking the world-renowned neurosurgeon, Dr. Ben Carson, if he could do math.

At that point I was rather thankful a baseball bat was not in arm’s reach, or my living room would be minus one flat screen. I was not alone. Public outcry shows it backfired. Presidential debates are intended to field the tough questions so voters can gain a window into each candidate’s vision for how he or she would lead America.

Senator Ted Cruz was right when during the debate he defended fellow GOP contenders saying, “The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense than every participant in the Democratic debate,” which reflected “a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.” And I would add the “Bull-shi-viks” but I wasn’t onstage.

Truth is, the left-stream media have no interest in allowing Americans to think for themselves and form their own opinions. The world burns, rogue nations toy with nuclear weapons, the world’s economy teeters on the brink of collapse — and the left-stream media are preoccupied with “gotcha” questions. And protecting Hillary Clinton.

“Comes with the job,” said moderator John Harwood after The Blaze News asked him to respond to the overwhelming outcry from critics after the debate. Comes with the job? Apparently, asking Democrat Party contenders similar questions with the same condescending tone doesn’t come with the job. Nor does questioning Hillary about Benghazi or about Her Highness’s metastasizing email scandal presently under FBI investigation.

Senator Marco Rubio nailed it during the debate when he said the Democrats’ “ultimate SuperPAC” is the mainstream media. “Last week,” Rubio said, “Hillary Clinton went before a committee. She admitted she had sent emails to her family saying, ‘Hey, this attack at Benghazi was caused by al-Qaeda-like elements.’ She spent over a week telling families of those victims and the American people that it was because of a video. And yet the mainstream media is going around saying it was the greatest week in Hillary Clinton’s campaign. It was the week she got exposed as a liar…”

And the mainstream media will continue to remain silent to ensure her coronation.

After the debate, CNN reported that some CNBC employees were heard saying “they were proud that the moderators had pointedly challenged the GOP candidates and potentially changed the course of the presidential race.” That’s all they cared about and that’s the reason why people trust the left-stream media about as much as they trust Hillary Clinton.