| Christopher Wilkes | |
| Office: | Chief Judge, 23rd Judicial Circuit of West Virginia |
| Termstart: | January 1, 1993 |
| Spouse: | Pat Wilkes |
| Alma Mater: | West Virginia University Ohio Northern University College of Law |
Christopher C. Wilkes is the former chief judge for West Virginia's largest judicial circuit, the 23rd Judicial Circuit, encompassing Morgan, Jefferson, and Berkeley counties. Wilkes was first elected to the court in 1992 and has served on the bench since 1993. He has been reelected four times since, most recently in 2016.[1] On August 17, 2018, he announced his candidacy for the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia Division 1.[2] He was not elected, placing third among ten candidates. Wilkes retired in January 2019, but continued to serve as a senior judge.
Wilkes received his undergraduate degree from West Virginia University and his J.D. from the Ohio Northern University College of Law.[3]
Wilkes has served as president of the West Virginia Judicial Association,[4] co-chairman of the Youth Services Committee of the Court Improvement Board, and a member of the Judges Initiative Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. He also served as a member of West Virginia's Judicial Investigation Commission, and was a West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow.[5] [6]
Wilkes served as the first chair of West Virginia's Business Court Division[7] from 2012-2018,[8] [9] and continued with that business court as a senior judge.[10] He also served as a Business Court Representative to the American Bar Association's Business Law Section.[11]
Wilkes retired in January 2019,[12] and subsequently was appointed a senior judge, with a term ending on December 31, 2024.[13] In 2023, he served as the common benefit fund manager in West Virginia's opioid litigation.[14]
Before he was elected to the bench, Wilkes served as a judge for the cities of Martinsburg and Ranson in West Virginia from 1985 to 1993. He previously worked as an attorney in private practice in Martinsburg.[15]