CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Edythe “Eydie” Nash Gaiser, Clerk of Court for the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and the Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia, is retiring.
The Supreme Court appointed Deputy Clerk C. Casey Forbes to be clerk effective January 1, 2024. He will become the sixteenth person to serve as Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals since West Virginia was founded in 1863, and the second clerk of the Intermediate Court of Appeals since it was founded in 2022.
Forbes is a native of Charleston. He has a bachelor’s degree (2006) in English from Shepherd University, a master’s degree in English (2007) from the College of Charleston, S.C., and a law degree (2011) from the Alexander Blewitt III School of Law at the University of Montana, where he was editor of the Public Land & Resources Law Review.
Forbes has worked in the clerk’s office since 2018. He previously was a staff attorney for the West Virginia Legislature (2017-2018); a law clerk in the Supreme Court Office of Counsel (2014-2017); an attorney in private practice (2012-2014), during which time he also served as a mental hygiene commissioner; and an assistant attorney general (2011- 2012). He lives in Charleston with his wife and two children.
“I am honored and humbled to continue my public service as clerk of court,” Forbes said. “Eydie has done so much for the court system as clerk and has taught me so much over the years. We all wish her happiness in her next chapter. With my experience as deputy clerk and with the great staff at the Supreme Court of Appeals and Intermediate Court of Appeals, I am confident that this transition will be seamless.”
Gaiser said she is looking forward to retirement so she can spend time with her two adult sons and her first grandchild.
“It has been a privilege to serve as clerk the last six years,” Gaiser said. “It has been a time of tremendous change in the appellate court system. I had the unique opportunity to help establish and write rules for a new Intermediate Court of Appeals and to work on building the new West Virginia Judicial Learning Center. While there have been challenges, I have enjoyed this job more than any other I have had.”
Gaiser was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and moved to West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle at an early age. She attended Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Wheeling and Wheeling Jesuit University (1985). She then attended Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh (1988). Gaiser worked in private practice (1988-1999), then took a job at the Florida Supreme Court Office of State Court Administration in judicial education. She returned to West Virginia to become Deputy Supreme Court Clerk in August 2003. She was promoted to clerk of court on November 1, 2017.
Gaiser is an active member of the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks. She has served as its president, program chair, vendor chair, and has held a seat on the executive committee.
“We all wish Eydie well in her retirement and look forward to working with Casey in his new role,” said Chief Justice Beth Walker. “This important transition will be successful based on the excellent processes and working relationships in the Clerk’s office. I am grateful for Eydie’s skilled leadership over the past several years, and I will miss working with her.”
Justice Tim Armstead, who will serve as chief justice in 2024, said, “It has been a pleasure to work with both Eydie and Casey during my time on the Court. Eydie has done a tremendous job as clerk, and I am confident that under Casey’s leadership the clerk’s office will continue to maintain the high level of professionalism that the public and the legal community have come to expect.”
