Charleston, W.Va. — Spilman Thomas & Battle (Spilman) announced that partner Neva G. Lusk was selected as the 2019 recipient of the DRI Mary Massaron Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession.

"This award is created for a person who stands as an innovator and role model and one who has made significant efforts to advance women in the legal profession," said John R. Kouris, DRI Executive Director.

"The award is presented annually to a DRI member who has demonstrated a high regard for diversity and a commitment to advocating the inclusion and promotion of women as well as fostering women's initiatives and actively promoting positive mentoring relationships with other women in the legal profession," he continued.

Lusk said she is both honored and humbled to receive the award.

"I have worked my entire career toward the advancement of women in the legal profession. I hope my efforts will encourage other women as they succeed as lawyers," she added.

Currently, around 20 percent of law firm equity partners are women, and about the same percentage are civil litigators. Lusk is both.

Lusk serves as co-chair for Spilman's medical monitoring, product liability litigation, and toxic tort litigation practice groups, and as chair of the firm's e-discovery practice group. She has extensive experience in multi-district litigation and plays a significant role in ongoing product liability and tort litigation for some of Spilman's top clients.

In addition to her current or past membership in various DRI committees, including the Minority Scholarship Committee and the Women in the Law Steering Committee, Lusk is also a past president of the Defense Trial Counsel of West Virginia; a member of the prestigious International Association of Defense Counsel, for which she was a faculty member at the IADC 2011 Trial Academy; a member of the invitation-only Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel; and a member of the American Inns of Court, Judge John A. Field, Jr. Chapter, for which she is a Master of the Bench, emeritus.

Further, Lusk is a past member of the board of governors for the West Virginia State Bar and past member of the board of directors for the West Virginia Bar Foundation. She was named a West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow, one of fewer than 300 previously selected in the state, based on her dedication to the welfare of her community and honorable service to the legal profession in West Virginia.

Frequently mentoring women both within and outside Spilman, Lusk works in her capacity as a lawyer and in her capacity as a leader in these various professional associations to bring about positive societal change. During her service as a National Director on DRI's Board of Directors, she was a critical part of the relaunch of the Women in the Law Committee at DRI. She spent significant time and effort providing advice, support and ideas and subsequently took a position on its Steering Committee.

Lusk is consistently included on the West Virginia Super Lawyers and the Best Lawyers in America lists. She also has received the highest ranking possible from Martindale-Hubbell.

About DRI
DRI is the leading organization of more than 20,000 civil defense attorneys and in-house counsel. It has served the defense bar for more than 50 years and focuses on education, justice, balance, economics, and professionalism and service. For more information, please visit www.dri.org.

About Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC
Spilman Thomas & Battle is a full-service, super-regional law firm serving local, regional, national and international businesses. Founded in 1864, Spilman has offices in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Charleston, Morgantown and Wheeling, West Virginia; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Roanoke, Virginia.