2018 AWARDS
William Ihlenfeld
Managing Partner, Bailey & Glasser LLP
My favorite part of the job is getting a good
result for a client. We handle high-stakes,
bet-the-company litigation, so failure is not
an option.”
Photo by Rick Lee.
BY KATLIN SWISHER. William Ihlenfeld,
managing partner at Bailey & Glasser
LLP, has had an exciting career during
which he has left an indelible mark on
West Virginia and its communities. As a
U.S. attorney for the Northern District of
West Virginia, he learned to be a problem
solver, which was vital to his efforts in
tackling the opioid crisis. Law wasn’t his
first career choice, but it quickly became
his passion.
As an undergrad, Ihlenfeld was study-
ing journalism at Ohio University when
he was offered an internship at WOWK-
TV in Charleston, WV. It was then that
he experienced the impact of the law
first hand and was inspired to pursue a
legal career.
“While I was at WOWK-13, the sta-
tion covered a high-profile trial gavel to
gavel,” Ihlenfeld recalls. “It involved the
murders of a mother and daughter from
Cabin Creek, WV, and I had a front-row
seat. I was captivated by the process, and
I quickly realized the importance of pros-
ecutors. My interest in journalism mor-
phed into a love for the criminal justice
system and a desire to be a prosecutor.”
Ihlenfeld with the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s 2015
summer clerks. Photo by U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
Ihlenfeld went on to study law at West
Virginia University (WVU) College of
Law. His service as president of the com-
petitive Lugar Trial Association during
his time at WVU played a major role
in preparing him to be a prosecutor, as
did the trial advocacy course taught by
Woodrow A. Potesta Professor of Law
Charles DiSalvo.
“He knew the names of every single
person in the class, all 75 of us,” Ihlen-
feld says of DiSalvo. “One day early in
the semester in civil procedure, he went
around the room and without the help of
a seating chart identified every one of us.
This sent a message that he cared enough
about us to know who we were and also
that we better do our homework because
he could call on us by name at any time.”
DiSalvo has had a lasting impact on
Ihlenfeld, both as a professor and as a
mentor throughout Ihlenfeld’s career.
“Professor DiSalvo taught us not to
try cases we didn’t believe in with all
of our heart,” says Ihlenfeld. “He also
taught us how to prepare for trial, and
his guidance helped me immensely in
trying hundreds of cases as a state and
federal prosecutor.”
Ihlenfeld earned his law degree in 1997
before returning home to Wheeling, WV,
as an assistant prosecuting attorney in
Ohio County. He managed the domestic
violence docket in the county along with
sexual assault cases.
“This caseload was my assignment for
three years, so I became very familiar
with the challenge of prosecuting cases
where the victim doesn’t wish to cooper-
ate,” says Ihlenfeld. “Without my most
important witness, I quickly became an
expert in the rules of evidence. I learned
them backward and forward, especially
the exceptions, and spent so much time
with the rule book that I might as well
have cuddled up with it in bed at night.”
Early on in his career, Ihlenfeld also
worked as a drug prosecutor in Ohio
County and the juvenile criminal docket
in Brooke County, introducing him to
opportunities for restorative justice.
“The handling of cases involving teen-
agers was enlightening and helped me
better understand the concept of restor-
ative justice,” he says. “I learned that
simply prosecuting and punishing a young
person is not enough. You must also take
steps to look behind the curtain, so