L. Dante' diTrapano

Dante' diTrapano began his career in the legal industry in 1990 as an investigator for his late father's law firm, DiTrapano & Jackson. His father, Rudolph L. DiTrapano (1928-2017), was a highly respected and successful lawyer in West Virginia who inspired Dante' to go to law school through a number of high-profile trials, including a case the elder DiTrapano successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court.

Dante' attended John Marshall Law School, where he graduated summa cum laude and was the 1994 Valedictorian. Dante' successfully represented the law school in trial advocacy competitions across the country.

Dante' is AV Preeminent Peer Rated, an honor bestowed by Martindale-Hubbell for achieving the highest level of professional excellence for his legal knowledge and experience, analytical capability, judgment, communications, and ethical standards. Dante’ was appointed to serve on the Executive Committee of the West Virginia Association for Justice for the 2025-2026 term. Previously, Dante' was appointed to serve on the Board of Governors of the West Virginia Association for Justice for the 2023-2024 term. WVAJ is a volunteer bar association for West Virginia attorneys and paralegals to protect access to state and federal courts, the civil justice system, and the 7th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which is the right to a jury trial.

Dante' has extensive courtroom and trial experience and enjoys the reputation of being a tenacious litigator in the representation of his clients. Dante's negotiation skills have also served his clients well over the years, yielding results in the hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2000, Dante' negotiated a $75 million contract for former client and NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss. At the time, it was the largest salary negotiated for a wide receiver in NFL history. More recently, as lead negotiator, Dante' impressively resolved three separate class action/mass tort cases with financial recovery totaling, in the aggregate, more than $375 million.

As lead counsel, Dante’ took an inmate injury case to trial for the estate of a man who died while incarcerated at Huttonsville Correctional Center in Huttonsville, West Virginia. The trial took place in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia, in November 2022. The jury returned a verdict, in favor of the estate, in the amount of $711,000 against the WV Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The jury determined that corrections officials were “deliberately indifferent” to the inmate’s medical needs, ultimately causing his death.

In November 2024, Dante’ was lead trial counsel in a medical malpractice, wrongful death case in the 8th Judicial Circuit in and for Alachua County, Florida. The Gainesville jury returned a verdict, in favor of Dante’s client, for $1.5 million, finding there was a failure to diagnose an internal hernia and small bowel ischemia on an abdominal CT Scan.

In 2025, Dante's clients were honored by the West Virginia Association for Justice for their perseverance in a five-year civil-rights case on behalf of the family of a detainee who died in state custody. During trial, a former jail guard exposed that the detainee had died of positional asphyxia after allegations that the guards had abused and smothered him for several minutes, leading to significant public attention and recognition of the need for systemic reform. The case resulted in a maximum recovery from the State’s insurance fund, marking an important milestone in West Virginia civil rights accountability.Dante' also currently serves as Class Counsel on behalf of a nationwide class of former detainees in Spurlock, et al. v. Wexford Health Sources, Inc., pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, Huntington Division (Civil Action No. 3:23-0476), involving claims that incarcerated individuals were denied medically necessary treatment in violation of their civil rights.

Dante' has tried cases to verdict for serious injuries and wrongful deaths in the following areas of practice: prison abuse, civil rights violations, commercial trucking accidents, parcel service trucking accidents (UPS), waste disposal trucking accidents (BFI), medical malpractice, products liability, premises liability, property flooding, breach of fiduciary duty, dog bites, and auto accidents. In addition to West Virginia, he has litigated cases across the country in numerous states, including Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.

Dante' is a native of Charleston and resides there with his wife, Teri. They have four children and six grandchildren. Dante’ enjoys vacationing with his family and extended family. Because he previously conquered his own difficulties with substance abuse and has become an inspiration to others, Dante' spends a considerable amount of his free time helping members of the community who struggle with substance abuse. He has spoken to numerous recovery groups, jail populations, patients at treatment facilities, and professional assistance programs. In February 2025, Dante' was asked to speak during the West Virginia Association for Justice's Mid-Winter Convention & Seminar. His presentation, 'Resilience in Recovery: A Story of Addiction, Redemption, and Rebuilding a Legal Career,' was met with extraordinarily positive feedback. Dante’ was also the keynote speaker at the inaugural West Virginia Judicial and Lawyer Assistance Program (WVJLAP) retreat in April 2019. The WVJLAP also recognized Dante’ in 2022 with the Chief Justice Award for his Peer Volunteer Service. He has also visited Mount Olive Correctional Complex as part of a Prison Ministry and brought his message of faith, hope, and perseverance to the inmates. Dante' regularly supports Maranatha Fellowship, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Kanawha Valley Fellowship Home, youth sports, and various local 12-step recovery groups. He also competes in local tennis events and has a standing game every Saturday morning.