Michael Edward Nogay

Tri-State Litigation Attorney

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

Education

Mike Nogay earned his undergraduate degree from West Virginia University, magna cum laude, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and served as editor of the Daily Athenaeum. Mike received his law degree in 1983 from Washington & Lee University in Virginia, where he was a Benedum Academic Scholar, and subsequently passed the bar examinations in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Bar Admission

Admitted to practice law in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Mike has been selected for Super Lawyers TWELVE separate times (limited to only 5% of the lawyers statewide) in 2009, 2014, as well as 2017 through 2026 and has the highest rating Avvo award (“superb”). Mr. Nogay has also been selected as a Barrister in the American Inns of Court for the US District Court in Wheeling. More info about the American Inns of Court can be found here.

Practice Areas

Mike Nogay is a rarity: a seasoned trial lawyer who has tried cases before juries in three states. From a multi-million-dollar jury verdict in a complicated medical malpractice case and multiple felony trial victories, Mr. Nogay’s record in the courtroom speaks for itself. Although his law office is located in West Virginia, a significant portion of his legal practice is in the state of Ohio due to its close proximity only a few miles away.

Mike recently litigated a wrongful death case at a local industrial site; an implosion case affecting 106 local residents against Frontier Corporation and other defendants; a trademark infringement matter; a federal criminal case alleging trade secret theft; a complex medical malpractice case as well as numerous other matters.

On June 13, 2019, Attorney Mike Nogay won yet another NOT GUILTY verdict in U.S District Court in Wheeling, WV, on behalf of a physician who was treating patients in a Suboxone clinic. The physician was originally charged in the indictment with 9 counts, including conspiracy to violate federal drug laws, downstream health care fraud and illegal distribution. The case was designated “complex litigation” by the federal judge due to the volume of documents and evidence. After a 9-day jury trial, the jurors returned a NOT GUILTY verdict on all charges. It was Mr. Nogay’s most recent victory in a federal criminal case.

Mr. Nogay has been honored to have served as Special Disciplinary Counsel, handling lawyer discipline cases for the West Virginia State Bar Office of Lawyer Disciplinary Counsel and has obtained a conviction as a Special Prosecuting Attorney in a felony murder case in Wheeling, West Virginia.

While in law school, Mr. Nogay volunteered to provide legal aid at the Alderson Federal Correctional Institution for Women, driving nearly 200 miles roundtrip on each visit.

Family Life

Mike and his wife of nearly 40 years, Robin, are the parents of triplets: Dr. Jennifer Nogay, a veterinarian near Pittsburgh; Attorney Max Nogay, a former Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of West Virginia who now practices in a white collar criminal defense firm composed primarily of former DOJ lawyers; and Attorney Edward Nogay, who is now a senior associate with a national law firm in its Charlotte, North Carolina office, after serving as a law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr. in Wheeling. Jennifer is married to Dr. Michael Duffy, a physician in Cranberry, PA, and they are the parents of a daughter, PJ. Max is married to Assistant United States Attorney Carly Cordaro Nogay, who works as a federal prosecutor in West Virginia. Edward is married to Jennifer (Winkler) Nogay, a partner with a national law firm who works in their Charlotte office.

Max has been inducted into two sports halls of fame (the 55-school OVAC Hall of Fame and the Madonna High School Hall of Fame) for his athletic accomplishments in high school and on the baseball diamond for West Virginia University. Eddie was recently inducted into the Washington & Jefferson College sports Hall of Fame, where he was named a D-III college All-American. Mike always says, however, that daughter Jennifer is the best athlete in the family.

Professional Awards and Recognition

In 2026, Mr. Nogay was selected once again as a West Virginia Super Lawyer for the 12th time. Mr. Nogay has also been a repeat selection for membership in the National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Trial Lawyers, and the National Academy of Criminal Defense Attorneys, which has recognized Mr. Nogay for its “Top 10 Attorney Award for the State of West Virginia.”

Professional Teaching, Public Service and TV Legal Analyst Experience

In addition to actually trying numerous cases before juries, Mike Nogay has twice been recognized by courts as an expert witness: in the U.S. District Court for the NDWV as well as in the Jefferson County (OH) Court of Common Pleas.

At the national level, Mike was the local NBC/FOX on-air legal analyst for WTOV-9 in the Steubenville rape case and the subsequent special grand jury investigation, both of which received national media attention. Mike has also served as an on-air legal analyst for the local NBC/FOX TV affiliate on a wide range of other legal issues .On October 10, 2015, Mr. Nogay was selected as a guest faculty lecturer at the WVU College of Law for a continuing legal education program on that subject.

Mike was also selected to lecture at the 2016 WV Public Defender Services annual convention in June at Stonewall Resort on the topic of “Innovative Motion Practice,” and served as a guest lecturer for the West Virginia College of Law CLE series held at Canaan Valley in 1997, presenting on the topic, “You Can’t Win if You Can’t Cross Examine.” Mike was selected to give the commencement address at Weirton Madonna High School and has made numerous presentations for local history groups in Weirton, Steubenville, Wellsburg, Wheeling, Cadiz and Moundsville. He has also been the featured speaker before local chapters of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, including presenting a lecture to the Fort Henry Chapter in Wheeling in 2017 and the Weirton Museum in 2025 as well as a lecture at Ft. Steuben scheduled in March 2026

Courtroom and Trial Experience

Mr. Nogay is admitted to practice law in state and federal courts in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania and has tried cases before juries in each of those states. His primary litigation focus has been on medical malpractice, serious auto and truck and industrial personal injury cases, and federal and serious state criminal cases. Mike and his law partner, Jim Sellitti, have what is believed to be one of the largest civil jury verdicts in Hancock County (WV) history at the time in a medical malpractice case: $2.75 million.

In 2014, Mr. Nogay was recognized in federal court in Wheeling as an expert witness in the area of law and ethical issues involving conflicts of interest in Am. Heartland Port, Inc. v. Am. Port Holdings, Inc., 53 F. Supp. 3d 871, 880 (N.D.W. Va. 2014) aff’d, No. 14-1801, 2015 WL 8776727 (4th Cir. Dec. 15, 2015).

Mr. Nogay also successfully litigated an important decision in an oil and gas matter in federal court concerning binding arbitration clauses in leases that was widely reported. (See, Heller v. TriEnergy, Inc., 877 F. Supp. 2d 414 (USDC NDWV, 2012).

Mr. Nogay successfully argued in the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals the seminal case of Harris v. Adkins, 189 W. Va. 465, 468, 432 S.E.2d 549, 552 (1993) which clarified the U.S. Supreme Court’s Noerr-Pennington doctrine of immunity for persons addressing grievances in a governmental forum.

Mr. Nogay has also argued and/or been on brief in several case before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals; see, e.g., State ex rel. Longanacre v. Crabtree, 177 W. Va. 132, 350 S.E.2d 760 (1986); Lyons v. Lyons, 179 W. Va. 712, 715, 371 S.E.2d 640, 643 (1988); Harris v. Adkins, 189 W. Va. 465, 432 S.E.2d 549 (1993); Mayo v. W. Virginia Secondary Sch. Activities Comm’n, 223 W. Va. 88, 672 S.E.2d 224 (2008); Kokochak v. W. Virginia State Lottery Comm’n, 225 W. Va. 614, 695 S.E.2d 185 (2010).; State ex rel. WVSSAC v. Webster, 228 W.Va. 75, 717 S.E.2d 859 (2011).

On November 13, 2014, Mr. Nogay won yet another jury verdict acquittal in a felony assault (F-2) criminal trial in St. Clairsville, Belmont County, Ohio. He has also tried a first-degree murder case in Brooke County and a federal use of force case in federal court in Wheeling.

Mike was appointed by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals as a special hearing examiner in several discrimination cases before the West Virginia Human Rights Commission and issued the underlying decisions in cases such as Kerns v Bucklew, 357 S.E. 2d 750 (W.Va. 1987) (abrogating state immunity in employment discrimination cases) and Chico Dairy Co. v. HRC, 382 S.E. 2d 75 (W.Va. 1989) (perceived handicap).

Mr. Nogay has successfully tried major criminal cases in both federal and state courts and has won acquittals in cases ranging from counterfeiting to vehicular homicide to drug conspiracy, as well as obtaining a felony murder conviction in Wheeling, WV while serving as a special prosecutor

Attorney Mike Nogay and his law firm filed suit on behalf of 106 local residents against 8 defendants for personal injuries, property damage and declaratory relief as a result of the use of explosives in the demolition of the former Weirton Steel BOP plant that caused a cloud of noxious airborne particles to settle on the homes and residents in the Weir Avenue area. The lawsuit seeks both compensatory and punitive damages. Link: https://wtov9.com/news/local/lawsuit-filed-on-behalf-of-weirton-residents-after-bop-demolition

Mr. Nogay was honored to have been appointed by West Virginia Gov. Gaston Caperton to the West Virginia State Ethics Commission and served as its first secretary. He has also served as an elected member of the Hancock County Board of Education.

Personal and Family Background

Mr. Nogay is a lifelong resident of the Weirton area and was raised in a family of 8 children. His father, Edward, was a combat-wounded US Army officer, who then graduated from Texas Christian University on the GI Bill and subsequently taught middle school in West Virginia for 30 years while also serving two terms as an elected Hancock County Commissioner. His mother, Theresa Gromek Nogay, was a physical education major at West Liberty State College who was a stay-at-home mom and a Catholic catechism teacher for decades.

As head wrestling coach at Weirton Madonna High School, Nogay coached his son Max to three state finals appearances and two West Virginia high school state championships.

Mr. Nogay authored an academically praised history book on the military fortifications in the Ohio Valley during the American Revolutionary War titled, Every Home a Fort, Every Man a Warrior. The book earned him a West Virginia History Hero award from West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. Nogay was also awarded a “Key to the Museum” in June of 2017 by the Weirton Area Museum for his efforts to preserve local history.

Link to Johns Hopkins University website with scholarly review of book:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/west_virginia_history/summary/v004/4.2.scharff.html

Mr. Nogay is also a nationally-recognized expert on antique fishing tackle and is the founder of the Old Reel Collectors Association, Inc. (ORCA)a non-profit organization of vintage fishing reel collectors, with nearly 800 members in over a dozen countries. https://www.orcaonline.org/. Mike was chosen to write the forward for the seminal book on American fishing reels, The History of the Fishing Reel, published in 2015.

Mike is an avid outdoorsman who likes to hunt and shoot sporting clays, as well as fish in the two bass ponds on his property. Mike cuts and splits his own firewood and has made several pieces of Adirondack-style rustic furniture for friends and family. Mike is a member of the Pipe Club of London and the North American Society of Pipe Collectors.

Mr. Nogay also served as the live on-air high school wrestling analyst for WTOV9 during the 50+ school Ohio Valley Athletic Conference wrestling finals– considered by many to be the largest annual conference wrestling tournament in the USA.

Mike has been a life member of the NAACP for over 30 years and has spent his 40+ year lcareer seeking justice in our legal system for those who would otherwise have no voice.

REQUIRED DISCLAIMER: Each case is different and the results above do not guarantee a successful or similar outcome in any future case handled by Mr. Nogay or his law firm.