WILL HARTY

Co-Founder and Partner

Will Harty is a partner and co-founder of Harty Jewell PLLC where he represents clients in mesothelioma, product liability, personal injury and maritime tort trial litigation, and appellate practice. As a trial attorney, Mr. Harty has served on trial teams winning several multi-million dollar product liability verdicts. In his appellate practice, Will has represented clients on complex legal issues of state and federal law before the Virginia Supreme Court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Will is regularly consulted and retained by other firms across the nation on maritime issues and gives national-level presentations and continuing legal education seminars on maritime law, tort litigation, and trial and appellate strategy. He is a member of the Boyd-Graves Conference, an invitation-only conference of Virginia attorneys, judges and legislators, which studies legal issues and makes recommendations for changes to Virginia law. He is also a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the American Association for Justice, and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association.

Will is a former law clerk for Judge (now Justice) D. Arthur Kelsey. Before attending law school, Will served as an Airborne Infantry Officer with the U.S. Army. He was a U.S. Army Ranger and a jumpmaster and led soldiers in combat operations in Panama during Operation Just Cause and in Iraq during the first Gulf War.

Education:

Regent University Law School - Juris Doctor
Texas Tech University - Bachelor of Science; Minors in Spanish and Latin American Area Studies.

Admissions:

Supreme Court of Virginia
Supreme Court of the United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Honors:

Pound Civil Justice Institute Appellate Advocate of the Year 2019
Virginia Legal Elite, Young Lawyer Category
Virginia Rising Star 2007 and 2010
Virginia "Super Lawyer" Products Liability 2013-2024
CoVa Biz Magazine’s 2022 Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia

Associations:

American Association of Justice
Boyd Graves Conference
Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
Maritime Law Association of the United States
Newport News Bar Association
Pound Civil Justice Institute

Publications & Speaking Engagements:

Streamlining the Evidence at Trial: Use of Offensive Motions to Narrow the Issues, VTLA CLE, Richmond, VA October 2021.
Offering Jury Instructions Outside the Model Jury Instructions, VTLA Annual Convention, Homestead, VA 2017.
Maritime Law in Federal Courts & Navy Warnings, Plaintiffs' Asbestos Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2015.
Gasket Exposures and John Crane, Plaintiffs' Asbestos Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2013.
Navy Exposure Cases - Legal Update, Plaintiffs' Asbestos Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2012.
Navy Case Update: Death on the High Seas Act and Maritime Uniformity Doctrine, Perrin Conference, San Francisco, CA 2011.
Federal Officer and Government Contractor Removal and Defense, Plaintiffs' Asbestos Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2011.
Exponents of Junk Science, Plaintiffs' Asbestos Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2010.
Maritime Jurisdiction in Shipyard Asbestos Cases, Plaintiffs' Asbestos Litigation Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 2008.
Paraquat Exposure: Overview and Litigation Status, VAPPA Paralegal Association, Newport News, VA, 2021.
Asbestos Exposure through Talc Products, VAPPA Paralegal Association, Newport News, VA 2018.