Howard Seufer has practiced in the area of education law for more than 35 years.  During his career, he has served all 55 of West Virginia’s county boards of education, all eight of its regional education service agencies, the West Virginia Center for Professional Development, the State Department of Education, West Virginia community colleges and other institutions of higher education. As longtime general counsel to the West Virginia School Board Association, he is state liaison to the National Council of School Attorneys.

Howard leads the Bowles Rice Education Law Group, which has been recognized for its work in West Virginia School Law by The Best Lawyers in America® and is listed as “Top Tier” in West Virginia for Education Law by U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Law Firms.

In 2019, Super Lawyers® recognized Howard as a “Top Rated Schools & Education Attorney” in West Virginia and Best Lawyers in America again named Howard to their list for West Virginia Education Law, marking the seventeenth consecutive year.

West Virginia Executive magazine recently honored Howard among its 2018 class of “Sharp Shooters” — leaders in the state who have a record of active participation in community service and philanthropic efforts.

Within the Bowles Rice Education Law Group, Howard advises and represents clients on issues involving governance, policy, business operations, students and human resources (including grievances).  He counsels governing boards on relations with their superintendents and presidents, the Ethics and Open Meetings Acts, and compliance with state and federal rules.

A trained facilitator, Howard is frequently engaged as a presenter and panelist on school law issues, emphasizing preventive legal advice and practical action steps for education leaders and administrators.  He is co-founder of the Bowles Rice invitation-only Signature Series Workshops. For more than 15 years, the workshops have provided focused, full-day legal instruction to education administrators in interactive, small group settings.

Howard is an emeritus director and past chair of the nation’s first statewide education fund, the Education Alliance. He belongs to, and previously chaired, the Board of Governors of Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College, and is a volunteer reader with Read Aloud West Virginia at the Mary C. Snow West Side Elementary School in Charleston.

Bowles Rice LLP

Bowles Rice is a professional service organization, contributing to the success of our clients and the vitality of our communities through advocacy, counsel, leadership and service.

Our firm was founded in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1920 by three lawyers engaged in the general practice of law. Through success, expansion and merger, we have grown to become a full-service law firm with 110 attorneys serving clients in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia – and throughout the nation – from seven strategically located, regional offices.

We are committed to quality and professionalism in all that we do. Our firm has earned the highest AV peer-review ranking from Martindale-Hubbell, long considered the authoritative resource on the legal profession.

U.S. News & World Report, in its 2019 Best Law Firms publication, ranks Bowles Rice as “First Tier” in 40 different areas of law in West Virginia. Chambers and Partners, a well-respected global peer-ranking organization, lists Bowles Rice among its “Top Ranked” law firms, and noted in the 2019 edition of Chambers USA, “They are excellent and I enjoy working with them.” The 2020 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© includes 44 Bowles Rice attorneys. Benchmark Litigation, which publishes a definitive guide to America’s leading litigation firms and attorneys, recognized Bowles Rice as its “West Virginia Law Firm of the Year” for 2017, 2018 and 2019.