Dennis C. Taylor

Dennis C. Taylor handles litigation and provides advice and assistance to businesses, government, and non-profit organizations on a wide range of issues, including governance and structure, business transactions, employment, and government relations. He is licensed to practice law in West Virginia and has been admitted to practice pro hac vice in numerous other jurisdictions.

Dennis also served as Vice Chancellor for Administration for the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and Community and Technical College System and as Chief of Staff for the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts. As Vice Chancellor, he oversaw finance and facilities, legal services, human resources, financial aid, technology, and other functions for 21 public higher education institutions. Among his many responsibilities were coordinating appropriation requests, budgeting, and financial audits; facilitating the sale of higher education revenue bonds and completion of capital projects; operating defined-contribution retirement plans for higher education employees; and overseeing lawyers who provided advice to and representation for higher education institutions. Dennis currently serves as an instructor at Marshall University where he has taught honors public speaking, debate, business communication, legal communication, and leadership.

Dennis’s private sector experience includes serving as an associate with the law firm of Goodwin & Goodwin LLP and general counsel for Tyler Mountain Water Co., Inc., as well as operating his own businesses. He also served as a judicial law clerk for U.S. District Judges Joseph R. Goodwin and Robert C. Chambers.

Dennis graduated magna cum laude from Washington & Lee University School of Law, where he was Managing Editor of the Washington & Lee Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. He also holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Marshall University.

Dennis is very active in his community. He currently serves as speech and debate coach at Marshall University. He also is a member of the West Virginia Speech and Debate Association and regularly runs and judges speech and debate tournaments at the high school level. He also has served as a Board member of Covenant House, Inc., the Huntington Rotary Club, the Renaissance Building Condominium Association, and the West Virginia Library Commission, and served as President and finance, development and public policy committee chairs for the Covenant House board of directors during his time on the Board.