Calwell Luce diTrapano Attorneys Named to 2025 West Virginia Super Lawyers and West Virginia Rising Stars Lists

Charleston, W.Va. — Calwell Luce diTrapano PLLC announced that its Managing Member, Melissa Luce, and its Practice Manager, Sydney Kaplan, have been selected to the 2025 West Virginia Super Lawyers and West Virginia Rising Stars lists, respectively. This is the sixth consecutive year Luce has received this honor and the second consecutive year for Kaplan.

“Missy Luce has helped our firm achieve great success since coming aboard in 2008, and she continues to be recognized by her peers with accolade after accolade,” said the firm’s founder, Stuart Calwell. “She is a respected and formidable lawyer and all-around wonderful person. We are fortunate to benefit from her exceptional leadership and her continued recognition by West Virginia Super Lawyers.” Calwell added, “Among the many accolades, Missy was especially proud to be recognized by her peers when selected as a Fellow by the West Virginia Bar Foundation in 2020.”

Calwell gave similar praise to Kaplan. “As Practice Manager, Sydney manages the daily operations of the firm. In the nearly five years she has served in that capacity, Sydney has proven that she belongs on the West Virginia Rising Stars list,” said Calwell. “We were equally proud of Sydney when she was one of twelve young lawyers invited to participate in the WV Bar Foundation’s Lawyer Leadership Institute in 2023,” Calwell added. “Her leadership skills are clearly evident and on display every day. We count ourselves lucky that she is on our team.”

Luce has been a trial attorney for 39 years and her practice focuses on medical malpractice, birth trauma and injuries, pharmaceutical litigation, products liability, and wrongful death. Kaplan has practiced law for nearly six years and provides critical support to several complex class and mass tort action litigation matters for the firm.

No more than 5 percent of lawyers in each state are selected to their state’s respective Super Lawyers list by the research team at Super Lawyers, a rating service and Thomson Reuters business. Candidates are selected annually on a state-by-state basis using a patented multiphase process that includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Candidates for each state’s Rising Stars list are selected annually and must be either 40 years old or younger or have practiced law for 10 years or less. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in West Virginia are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. More information is available at www.superlawyers.com.

To learn more about Melissa Luce, Sydney Kaplan, and Calwell Luce diTrapano PLLC, visit www.cldlaw.com.

ABOUT THE FIRM

With more than two centuries of combined experience, the lawyers at Calwell Luce diTrapano PLLC practice throughout West Virginia and in multiple jurisdictions across the nation. Its legal team focuses on catastrophic personal injury, medical malpractice, auto accident, workplace accident, and property damage litigation. The firm also handles significant environmental contamination and exposure litigation in California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia. The firm also has a nationwide practice relating to inmate injuries resulting from improper medical care, assaults by corrections staff, negligent processing and monitoring leading to suicides as well as cases involving constitutional rights violations by law enforcement officers in all settings.