J. Thomas Lane has been named the Best Lawyers’ 2010 Real Estate Lawyer of the Year for Charleston, West Virginia. Mr. Lane is a partner at Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love LLP, a regional law firm with seven offices in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia. He practices primarily in the areas of Energy Law.

“Bowles Rice has a long history of partnering with clients who are seeking to grow our region’s economy through the development and conservation of our abundant natural resources. Tom Lane’s selection as Real Estate Lawyer of the Year reflects his depth and experience in this area,” said Thomas Heywood, managing partner of Bowles Rice.

Mr. Lane is President of the Charleston City Council, where he has been an elected member since 1987. He is chairman of the Charleston Land Trust, a trustee and past president of the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation and a member of the Fourth Circuit Judicial Conference. He served as an adjunct professor at West Virginia University College of Law from 1986 to 2007, teaching a class on Coal, Oil and Gas Law.

According to Steven Naifeh, Managing Editor of Best Lawyers, those named as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in Best Lawyers’ surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism and integrity.

Bowles Rice has offices in Charleston, Martinsburg, Morgantown and Parkersburg, West Virginia; Lexington, Kentucky; and Winchester, Virginia.