Ad

Bridgeport High School Alum Robert Trumble Serving as Magistrate for U.S. District Court in Martinsburg

By Julie Perine on July 01, 2017 via Connect-Bridgeport.com

A 1977 graduate of Bridgeport High School, Robert W. Trumble went on to West Virginia University, then immediately to WVU School of Law. He practiced law for 30 years, first in Clarksburg, then in Martinsburg with the firm of McNeer, Highland, McMunn & Varner, L.C.
Since June of 2014, he has been serving as Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court in Martinsburg.
 
“Magistrate Judges have authority to administer criminal cases up to misdemeanors and petty offenses, so in essence, anything short of a felony - basically, certain tax violations and misdemeanor charges that don’t carry over one year of imprisonment,” he explained.
 
Trumble said criminal cases include those dealing with violations of rules at federal agencies and national parks, as well as preliminary work in criminal matters – even before indictments.
 
“I do search warrants for law enforcement agencies which seek any type of warrants and once indicted, I conduct initial appearances, arraignments, detention hearings,” he said. “I will hear any evidentiary issue such as a motion to suppress or motion for a bill of particulars or additional information until it’s ultimately completed or the time period expires on that case and it’s ready for pretrial conference with a district judge and ultimately trial.”
 
On the civil side, Trumble presides over issues regarding disputed litigation in federal court.
 
“I can handle any civil dispute between parties with their consent. If they consent to a magistrate judge hearing, I take it from start to finish like a district judge would,” he said. “If there isn’t consent, I handle - by referral by a district judge - discovery disputes; people fighting over whether or not there is proper information from discovery, interrogatories, etc.”
 
Trumble first realized he wanted to pursue a career in law when he was a sophomore at BHS. A first-generation attorney, he has a theory of what drew him to the profession.
 
“My mother was in the service industry and I think she served as a role model in that sense – leading me to, in essence, be somebody who was there to help people,” he said.
 
With regard to law, that includes defending those who are accused and assisting with a variety of other legal issues.
 
“I think it was more of a subconscious thing,” he said. “My dad was a good influence, as well.”
 
Trumble first went to work for the Clarksburg-based McNeer, Highland & McMunn in 1984. In 1992, he was extended an opportunity to open up an office for the law firm in Martinsburg.
 
“So I took that opportunity,” he said.  “I moved away from my comfort zone in Bridgeport and moved to an area that was new and that I didn’t know much about.”
 
His career encompassed a “mixed bag” of legal practices.
 
“In any mid-sized firm in the state of West Virginia, it’s really a broad scope of work,” he said. “My emphasis was in two areas. I did insurance defense litigation – trial work – and the other part of it was a unique situation in that I was a commercial attorney dealing in bankruptcy. Twenty of the 30 years, I was a U.S. bankruptcy trustee, administering close to 18,000 bankruptcy cases.”
 
Trumble resigned from the law firm in 2014 after being selected for the Magistrate Judge position. The selection process was a lengthy one.
 
“You submit an application and a merit selection panel reviews everybody who applies for the job. After those reviews, they choose to interview a certain number – five or six, after which they submit a recommendation to district judges, who select who they want to interview, then they make a decision,” he said.
 
Trumble said he was tremendously honored to be chosen for the position.
 
“It’s not election – by popular vote,” he said. “You have to stand on your credentials and track record and what is perceived to be your ability to do the job and the confidence which the district judges have in you.”
 
Like he did when he moved beyond his comfort zone of Harrison County, West Virginia, Trumble took another leap when he decided to pursue the magistrate judge position.
 
On June 2, 2014, he received a 9 a.m. telephone call that after completion of a background check that encompassed a 10- to 12-week period, he had been approved to take office.
 
“I was told I would start at 8 a.m. the next day, so for the rest of that day, I made a series of phone calls, removed personal items from my office and cleaned out my desk,” he said. “The next morning, I arrived at work and at noon on June 3, I was sworn in.”
 
He thereafter found himself wearing a robe and sitting on the opposite side of the bench. It was surreal and enlightening.
 
“When you’re a practicing attorney, you’re an advocate so you are advocating on behalf of your client and you are the person who is either defending someone or pursuing a claim for some type of recovery,” he said. “But as a magistrate judge, you can sit back and listen to both arguments and be very objective because you don’t have a ‘dog in the fight.’ I got to study the issues and make sure people’s rights are protected. It really gives you a different perspective than when you’re advocating for one side or another.”
 
Trumble and his wife Kathleen, a teacher at Martinsburg High School, recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. They are the parents of four grown children. Jonathan, 31, is an electrical and computer engineer. He and his wife Danielle live in Morgantown with their three-year-old son Connor. Son Daniel, 29, is an architect in New York and Robert Michael, 26, practices law in Fairfax, Va. Their daughter Lauren is 25 and teaches high school in Williamsport, just across the Potomac River from Martinsburg.
 
Not only in his own career, but in raising his children and preparing them for their respective futures, Trumble said he relied upon what he learned in his hometown of Bridgeport and from attending public school there.
 
“I credit the people and the residents of Bridgeport for making sure they get the best for their children and I think that is a product of the particular environment I grew up in,” he said. “It’s a matter of parental involvement, making sure kids stay on the right track. That was exemplified throughout the community and embedded in me.”
 
Editor's Note: Cover photo courtesy of Herald-Mail Media.


Connect Bridgeport
© 2024 Connect-Bridgeport.com