Michael Douglas Lorensen will be sworn in as West Virginia's newest circuit judge today at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Charles Town.
He will begin work that day as a judge for the 23rd Judicial Circuit, which encompasses Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan counties.
Chief Circuit Judge David H. Sanders will conduct the oath of office.
A public investiture ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Berkeley County Judicial Center in Martinsburg. West Virginia 23rd Judicial Circuit Judge Christopher C. Wilkes will conduct the oath of office in that ceremony. A public ceremony also will be scheduled at a later date in Morgan County.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin appointed Lorensen Nov. 16 to fill a vacancy created earlier this year when Judge Gina Groh was named to the federal bench in the Northern District of West Virginia.
Lorensen is 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 a 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. Lorensen lives in Martinsburg with his wife, Maria, and their children, William and Lauree.
