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Public Citizen Inc. v. First National Bank
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA January 1996 Term _________ No. 23282 _________ PUBLIC CITIZEN, INC., Plaintiff Below, Appellant V. FIRST NATIONAL BANK IN FAIRMONT, Defendant Below, Appellee _______________________________________________________________ APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MARION COUNTY HONORABLE FRED L. FOX II, JUDGE CIVIL ACTION NO. 92-C-500 REVERSED AND REMANDED _______________________________________________________________ Submitted: September 18, 1996 Filed: December 5, 1996 Ross Maruka Fairmont, West Virginia John J. Beins Gavett and Datt, P.C. Rockville, Maryland Attorneys for Appellant Philip C. Petty Rose, Padden & Petty, L.C. Fairmont, West Virginia Attorney for Appellee JUSTICE CLECKLEY delivered the Opinion of the Court. JUDGE RECHT sitting by temporary assignment. SYLLABUS BY THE COURT 1. In reviewing challenges to the findings and conclusions of the circuit court made after a bench trial, a twopronged deferential standard of review is applied. The final order and the ultimate disposition are reviewed under an abuse of discretion standard, and the circuit court's underlying factual findings are reviewed under a clearly erroneous standard. Questions of law are subject to a de novo review. 2. A statute that diminishes substantive rights or augments substantive liabilities should not be applied retroactively to events completed before the effective date of the statute (or the date of enactment if no separate effective date is stated) unless the statute provides explicitly for retroactive application.

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3. Under W. Va. Code

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