User talk:JoeE PPC PubAssist

Creating this talk page to facilitate communication with other editors and with admins. Should be little used.JoeE PPC PubAssist (talk) 20:58, 31 August 2016 (UTC)

Prelim draft beginning, Steptoe & Johnson PLLC article

First, my apologies for the length of this very long note. If you've arrived here from my sandbox, it's probably because I've asked for your guidance in getting a Wikipedia-compliant article online –– and because I won't dump this text into someone else's talk page. This is for background to put the article draft in context.

I am an employee of a small publishing company in Morgantown, West Virginia. Steptoe & Johnson PLLC, a law firm headquartered in Bridgeport, WV, has tasked us with developing an article that will conform to Wikipedia’s exacting standards. (We have done other work for them in the past.) Their first effort (authored by an employee) was deleted permanently in August 2015. At the time, the submission read more like an advertisement and lacked any documentation, whatsoever. It presented no claim of notability. I believe it may actually have been tagged “Blow it up and start over.” S&J PLLC let the matter lie but have now decided to try once more.

And yes, I’ve blown it up and am starting from scratch.

A disclaimer of sorts

This is my first Wikipedia effort and I'm determined to get it right. That's why it's in my sandbox and not "at large" where it might reflect unfavorably on our client. This is also likely to be my final Wikipedia effort, since retirement is looming dead ahead.

Two Steptoe & Johnsons, one parent firm, and one Wikipedia article to date

FWIW: the Washington, DC, firm of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, currently has an article at Wikipedia. That firm spun off from Steptoe & Johnson in 1980. The trademark “Steptoe & Johnson” redirects to their article. Technically, the separation agreement specifies that both firms enjoy equal entitlement to the name, but we’re not going to open that can of worms! It will be just fine if we can get a S&J PLLC article up and running.

My goal is to get a more inclusive presentation of the original firm's history from 1913 through 1980, with an eye to establishing a legitimate claim to notability.

Structure and improvements (?)

Starting points: no disambiguation page. I doubt that Wikipedians would permit such a page when neither law firm is all that notable to the public at large in the US, to say nothing of internationally. I have started this brief draft with a hatnote pointing the reader to the existing article for S&J LLP if they happen on ours accidentally — simply a courtesy to the reader.

As to references, I know I need to improve the citations. Two successive notes to the same source don’t conform to standards and I’ll get those fixed as work progresses.

The original S&J was involved in matters of some national significance that are not mentioned by the Washington firm. These include the ill-fated Steptoe Gas Bill effectively overturned by SCOTUS in 1923. Firm co-founder Philip P. Steptoe appeared twice before SCOTUS, arguing on behalf of the State of West Virginia against the States of Pennsylvania and Ohio.

(This is as far as my first draft goes.)

Steptoe Gas Bill (notable?) with actual references

The Steptoe Gas Bill probably does not warrant its own article, but it was of national interest, especially to gas producers, in the years between 1919 and 1923. I’ve tracked down Internet sources with the relevant SCOTUS decision (e.g., Pennsylvania v. West Virginia, 263 U.S. 350), as well as a journal article detailing testimony before a Supreme Court law master. What makes this case notable (at least in my judgement) is that West Virginia’s attempt to restrict shipments of natural gas to customers in PA and OH was found to violate the Commerce Clause, even though it may have seemed like a no-brainer when passed. After granting an injunction against the bill in 1921, the High Court killed it by refusing to lift the injunction in 1923. Readers can view transcripts of the full text of the Steptoe Gas Bill, as well as Justice Willis Van Devanter's majority opinion in refusing to lift the injunction, by following the URL in a footnote. Although it might just be a tangent, Justices Brandeis and Holmes, both noteworthy members of the Court in their own right, offered dissenting opinions.

Next steps

WP:YFA, WP:RS, WP:NOTPROMOTION: I've perused these but plan to give them a much harder look and measure the article against them. Perhaps there are others that could be suggested? Or maybe I'll plow through the Missing Manual.

Other addition bolstering (?) a claim to notability: S&J’s involvement in litigation arising from the coal waste flood in Buffalo Creek (1972) and the cooling tower collapse at Willow Island (1978). Both of these West Virginia disasters received national press coverage and both are the subject of articles in Wikpedia. More recently, S&J PLLC attorneys were involved in the aftermath of the coal mine disaster at the Upper Big Branch mine (2010) in southern West Virginia.

JoeE PPC PubAssist (talk) 21:49, 9 November 2016 (UTC)