Founding in Clarksburg
Regional law practice in the United States often grows in place first and across borders later. Steptoe & Johnson PLLC fits that pattern. The firm began in 1913 when Philip Steptoe and Louis A. Johnson formed a partnership in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Their early matters reflected what clients in the state needed at the time: business work, employment disputes, and cases tied to energy and utilities. The subjects were local; the issues were not. They echoed the economy of a state built on coal, oil, and related industries.
Early Growth in West Virginia
Growth came gradually. In 1928, the firm added an office in Charleston, extending its reach within West Virginia. That second office did more than add square footage. It signaled a broader role in the state’s legal market as industry expanded and regulation thickened. The lawyers handled litigation and transactions for companies shaped by the region’s resources and labor force.
Expanding to Washington, D.C.
After World War II, one of the founding partners pushed the firm onto a larger stage. In 1945, Louis A. Johnson opened a Washington, D.C., office. By the 1970s, the firm operated in Clarksburg, Charleston, and Washington, with local roots paired with a foothold in the nation’s capital. The two settings required different habits of practice, and over time, those differences mattered.
The 1980 Division
In 1980, the organization was divided. The Washington branch then became Steptoe & Johnson Chartered, today widely known as Steptoe LLP, and the West Virginia practice continued as Steptoe & Johnson PLLC. The split originated two firms with distinct identities: one oriented to national and international work from Washington, the other centered on Appalachian and mid-Atlantic clients. For the PLLC, the division clarified its path. The firm mainly focuses on business services, energy, labor and employment, and litigation, and continues to serve sectors common to the region, including banking, insurance, mineral, and public-utility matters.
Expansion Beyond West Virginia
Even with a regional focus, the West Virginia firm did not stand still. In 2007, it opened its very first office outside the state in Columbus, Ohio. Two years later, in January 2009, Susan S. Brewer became chief executive officer. Her appointment was recognized as the first time a woman led a corporate law firm in West Virginia, and the firm expanded with offices in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Colorado. In July 2020, Christopher L. Slaughter became CEO, and his tenure coincided with a period of broader expansion. New offices followed in Pennsylvania, Texas, and in June 2022, the firm opened an office in Oklahoma City, its eighteenth. Headquarters are now in Bridgeport, West Virginia, but the map extends across several states.
Practice Profile and Leadership
The practice profile has remained consistent even as the footprint grew. Business counseling and disputes, labor and employment issues, and energy-related work still anchor the docket. Matters involving oil and gas, minerals, and utilities continue to appear alongside banking and insurance issues. In that sense, the firm’s development tracks the evolution of regional practice itself: lawyers adapt to new rules and new markets while working in the same core industries that first shaped the client base.
Leadership changes have also marked that evolution. Brewer’s tenure illustrates how regional firms recalibrate without abandoning their character. The firm added offices and capabilities; it did not shed the subjects that have long defined work in the Appalachian and neighboring states. That mix, growth plus continuity, is a common feature of regional practice, where identity is tied to place as much as to size.
A Continuing Regional Identity
Seen against the broader history of American law firms, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC’s path is straightforward. A local partnership formed in 1913, expanded within the state, reached into Washington, and then, after a formal separation in 1980, settled into a role that reflects its geography and client industries. In the years since, the PLLC has moved into additional markets, but the center of gravity remains the same. It is a firm built around business, litigation, employment, and energy work for clients now in and around the Appalachian, mid-Atlantic, Midwest, South Central, and Western regions.
Today, the organization operates from Bridgeport with offices in 18 cities. The details, founding in Clarksburg, a second office in Charleston in 1928, a Washington office in 1945, a split in 1980, expansion beyond West Virginia beginning in 2007, and further growth under Brewer and Slaughter, tell a larger story. Regional law practice changes with the economy it serves; firms adjust, add locations, and take on new matters. What endures is the connection to the industries and communities that set the work in motion.
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