14-0059 – State of West Virginia ex rel. Thornhill Group, Inc. and Wally L. Thornhill v. Charles E. King, Jr., Judge of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, and George A. Roberts FILED June 6, 2014 released at 3:00 p.m.

RORY L. PERRY II, CLERK SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS OF WEST VIRGINIA Justice Ketchum, concurring:

Our venue statute; W.Va. Code §56-1-1 mandates that a civil suit shall be brought where the individual defendant resides, where a corporate defendant has a principal place of business or where the cause of action arose. The statute prevents forum shopping.

I would overrule all our cases which indicate in a breach of contract suit that the place of contract formation, breach and damages may be considered in determining venue.

These cases misconstrue the statute and may allow the plaintiff a choice of forums not allowed by our venue statute.

I do agree with the result in this case.

Therefore, I concur.