CHARLESTON -- Charleston native Thomas A. Heywood is an optimist.

As managing partner of Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love LLC in Charleston, Heywood directs the firm to serve its clients and support the communities where its 125 lawyers practice. He is committed to shaping West Virginia's future.

"Our mission is to contribute to the success of our clients and to the vitality of our community through advocacy counsel, leadership and service," Heywood said. "We see our role very importantly being connected to the success of our communities and clients."

The son of a Union Carbide research scientist, Heywood, 52, grew up in Charleston and attended Kanawha County public schools. He graduated with honors from Stanford University in California and earned a law degree from Harvard.

After serving as a clerk for Judge John A. Field Jr. of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Heywood joined Bowles Rice in 1983.

"At the time I joined the firm, it was a smaller law firm," he said. "It was 28 lawyers at the time ... and the training you received as an associate at that time, you would work for a little while with each attorney in the firm and kind of had a full rotation and exposure to folks. Then you really identified the particular area of focus."

He moved toward the commercial and financial areas of the law and took on securities work and some litigation.

"But it was a fairly general practice just given the nature of the firm," he said. "Bowles Rice is a business law firm. We've represented businesses and individuals since 1920, so we're approaching our 100th anniversary within a decade."

'One Obvious Choice'

Former Managing Partner F.T. Graff Jr., the attorney Heywood describes to this day as his coach and mentor, recalled the young lawyer's arrival. Graff said he saw similarities between Heywood and the firm's former managing partner, Paul Bowles. Both excelled in handling multiple responsibilities, Graff said.

"He's just a motivated, highly intelligent person," Graff said. "He has a certain naivete. He believes that people are good, and he expects the best from them."

Graff said partners in the firm decided five or six years ago to design a succession plan for leadership of the firm.

"There was really only one obvious choice," Graff said.

Heywood succeeded his mentor in early 2008.

Part of Heywood's growth and experience came in the late 1980s, when Charleston insurance executive Gaston Caperton won election as governor of West Virginia.

Heywood and Graff had served as counsel for Caperton and his insurance company, McDonough-Caperton.

Heywood said he recalls a meeting in 1987 with Caperton, who told the young lawyer about his plans to run for governor. Caperton invited him to be his administration's chief counsel.

"I thought about it for about half a second and said of course I would because I knew who Gaston was, and it was an incredible opportunity -- a chance to work at that level with someone you had that much confidence with," Heywood recalled.

Heywood has clear memories of his 4 1/2 years in the Governor's Office -- first as general counsel and then as chief of staff.

"I would say it was the most challenging, the most rewarding and the most frustrating job I've ever had," Heywood said. "It was very eye-opening in the sense of exposing you to so much of what goes on around this state."

Challenges of Governing

His government appointment took Heywood away from his legal practice and into a new administration that immediately faced problems with statewide implications and enormous fiscal challenges.

"As the governor took office, if you recall those times, those were dark economic times for the state of West Virginia," Heywood said. "Income tax refunds hadn't been paid for a year and a half, every public employee was being turned away from doctors and hospitals because PEIA (Public Employees Insurance Agency) hadn't been able to make payments for many, many years.

"The first letter we got in the Governor's Office at that time was a letter from the gas company, telling us the gas was going to be turned off in the mansion for failure to pay bills ... ," Heywood said.

"Gov. Caperton, I think, exhibited real courage and seized upon that fiscal crisis to really effect meaningful change. It was tough times, but I think we saw the results of making those tough decisions.

"I like to think -- at least from my perspective -- that we've had executive leadership, continued, progressive leadership, starting with Gaston through to this day with Gov. (Joe) Manchin, people leading our state, individuals leading our state, whether Republican or Democrat, with fundamentally a common, positive vision of the future with legislative leadership that very much is aligned with that."

Caperton, who now serves as president of the College Board in New York, recalls Heywood's contributions to his administration and his continued service to the state.

"He's one of the brightest and most capable people I have known," Caperton said. "His integrity, his judgment and his intellect are unsurpassed.

"He was a very key part of the years when I was governor, and he continued to serve in unofficial ways after he left after four years ... ," Caperton said. "He's very unselfish, a committed and wonderful friend. When I'm in Charleston, I always try to see him, and he always has time, no matter how busy he is.

"Tom is a wonderful husband and father, and he cares deeply about his family," Caperton continued. "He is involved in so many community activities and is the leader of a large law firm. He has a full plate, and he likes what he's doing. I can see him doing what he's doing for a long time."

Heywood is respectful of public service, but he is focused today on his leadership role at the law firm.

"I believe government service and public service is a very noble calling, and I'm always deeply impressed and appreciative of the number of public servants who make enormous personal sacrifice for the good of the order," he said.

"I feel there are many ways to participate in public life other than through public office, and I really enjoy the vantage point I have as managing partner of a large a law firm in this state and be actively involved in helping give directly and focus on activities and contributing where I can... ."

A Search for Balance

Heywood works to achieve balance in his life -- attending to his responsibilities as a lawyer, community volunteer, husband and father.

He met Melody Simpson while in law school at Harvard, and they later married. They assessed their career options and considered living in Seattle, Boston, Charleston and Vermont, Simpson's home state.

They settled on Charleston -- a community that gave them proximity to their families and the small-town atmosphere they both knew. Heywood and his wife, who serves today as a special counsel at Bowles Rice, have three children -- Michael, 21, Stephen, 18, and Lindsay, 16.

"One of the benefits of being in the private practice of law is that you can accomplish many of your tasks at nights and weekends." Heywood said. "So my days tend to be busy with my management activities and my charitable and civic (work)."

He noted that his children have gotten older, and, with support at home, he has time to devote to firm management, legal work and civic endeavors.

"My wife has been more than understanding in terms of my schedule over so many years in terms of knowing that I enjoy my level of activity and engagement," he said. "And we have so many folks who support me and assist me within the organizations I work with. It couldn't happen but for that."

Maintaining Connections

Heywood said his work with clients and his association with the West Virginia Manufacturers Association and the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce keep him in touch with the views of business leaders -- what they are saying, what they are experiencing.

"Today, what I see on the list, the issue that continues to crop up interestingly (is) health care because it is such a significant part of the cost of every business ... because of the cost shift that occurs," Heywood said.

He called education an enduring issue for the state, and he has focused on health care and children's initiatives. Recently, he has been involved in developing a new public library in downtown Charleston.

Heywood noted state leaders are looking at the state's liability climate. He has served as a member of the governor's Judicial Reform Commission, which has examined the state court system, including the way West Virginia chooses its judges.

But he is quick to note the beneficial changes state leaders have implemented in recent years, including privatization of the workers' compensation system and passage of medical malpractice insurance reforms, which has helped stem the exodus of physicians.

That has helped inspire Heywood's optimism.

"My view for the continued success of our firm would be to preserve our culture of collegiality and community service and excellence in the practice of law and to play an ever-increasing role in growing the pie for all West Virginians," he said.

He sees global population growth creating more opportunities for the state during the next few decades. The challenge, he said, is to prepare.

"Certainly, as we've entered the global knowledge economy where you don't have to live in London, New York, Tokyo or (Los Angeles) to be at a happening place with people with money and wealth to make things happen, now we can make things happen in Morgantown and Webster Springs and Parkersburg and Logan," he said. "We can create futures for ourselves that we didn't have the opportunity to do... .

"Today we have the complete opportunity to shape that future, and I think the resources we have in West Virginia -- both natural resources, water, location, living in the country where we have the civil rights and liberties that we do have and the ability to shape a future in a very attractive place -- the world will come to us," he said.

"So if we put the right foundation blocks in place, we truly are entering West Virginia's golden era, and it's an exciting time to be here."