JOHN J. BALENOVICH

Founder, Attorney

I am attorney John J. Balenovich. At my Charleston law office, John J. Balenovich Law Offices, LC, I provide aggressive and knowledgeable legal counsel to clients in Charleston and throughout West Virginia.

My experience speaks for itself. I have tried over 150 cases in 52 of West Virginia’s 55 counties. All told, I have represented over 2,000 cases in West Virginia and Kentucky. I have been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, was featured on A&E’s television show “The First 48” and have given speeches at legal seminars throughout the state.

• University of Louisville School of Law, Louisville, Kentucky
• J.D. - 2005
• Honors: Justice Charles M. Leibson Memorial Award
• University of Louisville
• M.S. - 2006
• Honors: Graduate Dean's Citation
• Major: Justice Administration



• Bellarmine University
• B.A. - 2001
• Honors: Monsignor Horrigan Academic Scholarship
• Honors: Member of 1996 Mock Trial National Championship Team
• Major: Philosophy/Sociology/Psychology

• Guest Lecturer at Louisville Metro Police Department Police Academy, 2017, 2008
• The Ethics of Social Media: Is it Incompatible with Law Practice. Kentucky Law Update, London, Kentucky, 2012
• Loss Mitigation: Alternatives to Judicial Foreclosure. Kentucky Law Update, Louisville, Kentucky, 2008
• Building a Mystery: A Preliminary Analysis of Police Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio, 2008
• A Proposed Kentucky False Claims Act: A Kentucky Fraud Shield. Submitted to Senator Damon, Thayer & Michael Kalinyak, Commonwealth of Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet, Legislative Session, Frankfort, Kentucky, 2005
• Factors Associated with Domestic Violence Arrest Decisions. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Annual Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2004
• Toward a Balanced Approach: Police Officer Roles in Domestic Violence Situations. Southern, Criminal Justice Association Annual Meeting, Nashville, Tennessee, 2003

• John J. Balenovich, Three Strikes and You're Safe: How Kentucky's New Sentencing Policy Allows Repeat Offenders to Avoid the Grand Slammer, The Bench & Bar, Vol. No. 77, Issue No. 1, January 2013.
• John J. Balenovich, Reservations for 50: A Closer Look at the Tenth Amendment's Powers Reserved to the States, The Bench & Bar, Vol. No. 72, Issue No. 4, July 2008.
• John J. Balenovich, Elizabeth H. Grossi & Tad Hughes, Toward a Balanced Approach: Police Officer Roles in Domestic Violence Crimes, 33(1) Am. J. Crim. Just. 19 (2008).
• John J. Balenovich, Drug Treatment in Kentucky Prisons: A Step in the Right Direction, The Bench & Bar, Vol. No. 70, Issue No. 5, September 2006.
• John J. Balenovich, Defeating Qualified Privilege with a Showing of Negligence: A Solution to an Educator's Libelous Intra-Office Memo Dilemma, 33 J.L. & Educ. 565 (2004).