WHEELING — A law firm which has produced several prosecutors and judges is celebrating a century of providing legal services to clients.

Schrader, Duff, Law & Lowe has a history dating back to Oct. 1, 1925. Carl Schmidt, Wright Hugus and Albert W. Laas founded the law firm Schmidt, Hugus and Laas in Wheeling.

These three founders were each deeply embedded in the business, political and social affairs of Wheeling. Schmidt served as the Wheeling city solicitor starting in 1921, then an elected position. Hugus served several terms in the West Virginia state Senate and played a seminal role in the merger of Wheeling Glessner Co., Wheeling Steel & Iron Co. and Ackerman Manufacturing Co. to form Wheeling Steel Corp. in 1920. Laas began his legal career in association with Judge J. H. Brennan and B.L. Rosenbloom and later served as a director of Valley Camp Coal Co. All three founders spent their entire careers providing legal services to Wheeling and the surrounding area.

The bridge between the founders of the firm and the members of today was Henry Stifel Schrader, whose name continues to be honored by the firm. He began practice with the firm in 1934, in the same era as the founders, and continued work at the firm into the 1980s, with current partners Frank X. Duff of Wheeling and Sandra K. Law of Wellsburg. In addition to being a respected and skilled attorney, Schrader was a philanthropist who bequeathed much of his estate to the Oglebay Institute. This legacy led to the construction of the Henry S. Schrader Environmental Education Center, the Stifel Fine Arts Center’s dance and art studio and upgrades to the Towngate Theater.

Continuing the tradition of public service set by the founders, several attorneys of the firm have served on the bench or as prosecutors on the federal or state levels.

Among those were Thomas Miller, who served on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the circuit court of Ohio County.

Frederick P. Stamp Jr. was nominated as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in 1990 and assumed senior status in 2006. The federal courthouse in Wheeling was named in his honor.

Arthur M. Recht, like Miller, served on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and the Ohio County Circuit Court.

James P. Mazzone, current U.S. Magistrate Court judge for the Northern District of West Virginia, also served as a local circuit court judge.

Thomas E. Johnston served as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia from 2001 until 2006. He was nominated as the U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of West Virginia where he has served since 2006.

Jennifer L. Sargus served as a Belmont County Common Pleas Court judge from 1989 to 2013.

John E. Hoffman has served as judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Ohio since 1990.

Melvin Kahle and James F. Companion served as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia from 1999 to 2001 and 1973 to 1976, respectively. The ever-committed Companion never retired and continued work at the firm until his death in 2024.

Dan Fry served as Belmont County prosecutor for two terms ending in 2020.

Today, the firm consists of partners Duff, Law and R. Jared Lowe of Wheeling, as well as of-counsel attorney M. Jane Glauser, and associate attorney Brett M. Ferro.