West Virginia Executive Spring 2018 | Page 108

Howard Seufer, Jr. Partner and Education Law Group Leader Bowles Rice LLP JEAN HARDIMAN Photo by Rick Lee. AS A BOY , Howard Seufer didn’t have his sights set on becoming a lawyer. He wanted to be a cowboy—until he saw first-hand how higher education helped his father further his career. Today, as a partner and leader of the education law group at Bowles Rice LLP, Seufer counsels public school lead- ers throughout West Virginia on how to maximize educational opportunities for the next generation of students. During junior high, Seufer’s family moved from Ohio to Parkersburg, WV, when his father became a registered engineer. 106 WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE Their new home was in town near the schools, which had a major impact on the young man. “I was able to spend many hours at school, participating in extracurricular activities like student government, forensics, the student newspaper, theater and the Junior Engineers Technical Society,” he says. “Through those opportunities, I learned a lot about my abilities and potential, about teaming with others and about what I might be interested in doing as an adult.” It was while he was attending Michigan State University as a