John Lewis
Founder & Partner, Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’ Keefe LLC
Written by Ava Kaiser
Photo by Jen Barker Worley Photography.
John Lewis, founder and partner of Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’ Keefe LLC, grew up in Morgantown, WV, as the youngest of three children. His father served as Morgantown’ s chief of police, and his mother was a well-known real estate agent. Growing up in a small, tight-knit community where his family was widely recognized taught Lewis an early lesson about reputation, relationships and personal responsibility.
“ In a small town, that kind of visibility teaches you early how your conduct matters; that reputation is earned over time and people remember how you treat them,” says Lewis.
As a child, Lewis spent much of his time playing baseball and dreamed of becoming a Pittsburgh Pirate. Although that dream never came true, the sport taught him lessons that followed him throughout his life and career.
“ Baseball teaches you quickly that you are going to fail more than you succeed, and then you have to show up the next day ready to try again,” he says.
Lewis struggled when starting out as a freshman in college. Unsure exactly what career path he wanted to take, Lewis settled on pre-med at Wheeling College, now Wheeling University, but was ushered from the program after being placed on academic probation.
“ I was an extremely poor undergraduate student because I had never developed real study habits,” he says.
Seeking direction, Lewis switched to accounting after encouragement from friends already in the accounting program. Although he was not particularly passionate about becoming an accountant, the program gave him
structure and introduced him to business and financial analysis. Lewis eventually raised his grade-point average and graduated with his bachelor’ s degree in 1980.
Lewis then applied to the West Virginia University( WVU) College of Law, but admission was uncertain. He was initially waitlisted and received acceptance only two days before classes began.
“ They had an open seat and wanted to see if I would sink or swim,” he says.
WVU saw the potential in Lewis that his undergraduate grades did not fully reflect, as his strong Law School Admission Test score told a different story. Lewis took this as an opportunity to refresh and show himself what he could accomplish, especially since he was back in his hometown.
“ Having grown up in Morgantown, attending law school at WVU had a natural connection to my home, but it also represented a new chapter for me,” he says.
A few weeks into his first semester, Lewis met his now wife, Tara, who, unlike Lewis at the time, was highly organized, disciplined and dedicated to her studies. As his old habits began to resurface, she confronted him with a blunt but life-changing question:“ What are you going to do when you flunk out of law school?” Lewis admits her point, although not subtle, was accurate.“ I was not studying, I was not doing the work, and I was not even taking notes in class,” he says.
Determined to change, he began mirroring Tara’ s study habits and committed himself fully to his education. His effort was not wasted, and by the end of his first semester, Lewis was at the top of his class— although, he says, not nearly as highly ranked as Tara.
Lewis earned his law degree in 1983 and began his professional career at Arthur Andersen.
He later joined a law firm at which he became the first associate hired into its corporate law practice. The opportunity forced him to learn quickly and helped shape the direction of his career.
“ I did not map out a deliberate path into mergers and acquisitions, but I recognized the opportunity when it
104
WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE