Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC is pleased to announce that Michael T. Bumgarner, CPA, CLM, CGMA has been named Chief Executive Officer and attorney J. Tyler Dinsmore has been named Assistant Managing Member, effective as of January 1.
Law firm leadership is evolving rapidly toward a management model more closely resembling that of its clients with a law firm CEO whose main focus is on managing people, administration, business development, long-term planning and running a business — not practicing law.
“Over the years, Mike Bumgarner has done an outstanding job as Chief Operating Officer. He has worked hard to earn the confidence and respect of our members, associates and staff, and he has demonstrated that he can move to the next level of management responsibility,” said firm Managing Member Michael Bonasso. “We also believe Tyler Dinsmore is well-suited to his new role. After joining the firm 25 years ago, Tyler soon became trusted and pragmatic counsel to the firm’s clients, growing his practice particularly in Mass Tort Litigation and Class Actions for both West Virginia based and global businesses.”
Bumgarner joined Flaherty in 2002 as the Firm Manager and was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2009. He is one of only 400 Certified Legal Managers (CLM) worldwide and was the first CLM in West Virginia. He has been an active member of Association of Legal Administrators (ALA) for 14 years. He previously served six years on the ALA Certification Committee, two years as a Region 3 Representative and is currently serving a three-year term on the Board of Directors as an At-Large Director, the first independent member elected to the Board. Bumgarner earned his Bachelor’s degree in Accounting at West Virginia University and is Certified Public Accountant. He is a member of the Association of Legal Administrators, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the West Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Dinsmore currently chairs the Business Development Committee and Mass Litigation Group – concentrating his skill in the complex world of Mass Tort Litigation defense. He has managed more than 45,000 suits against product manufacturers and contractors in mass and complex litigation, including a number of Fortune 500 companies. He is an AV Preeminent® Peer-Review Rated attorney by Martindale-Hubble® and is named in The Best Lawyers in America© 2017 (Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Defendants). Dinsmore holds a B.A. from Hampden Sydney College; J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law and an L.L.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law, Kings’s College, University of London. Presently, Dinsmore also serves as Vice-Chancellor to the Episcopal Dioceses of West Virginia and Trustee and Vestry member of St. Matthews Episcopal Church. He is also actively involved in Legal Aid and Manna Meal.
“As we have now opened our fourth office in West Virginia, we want to make sure that our moves forward are deliberate, stressed Bonasso.” “Yet they must also be gradual enough to allow us to adapt as we continue to leverage the firm’s strengths for the years ahead. We believe that the appointments of Mike and Tyler to these new strategic positions will help our firm better prepare for the future.”
