Rajkovich, Williams, Kilpatrick & True, PLLC, was formed in September 2005 by Marco Rajkovich, John Williams, Melanie Kilpatrick and Noelle Holladay True, attorneys with over sixty years of combined legal experience. We concentrate our practice in coal mining, business and commercial matters, including coal mine safety and civil trial practice. We serve a broad range of clients, from individuals, to small businesses, to publicly-traded corporations. Our attorneys regularly practice in state and federal courts in Kentucky, and before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and the Kentucky Mine Safety Review Commission.
Coal Mine Safety
We represent coal operators and coal mine employees throughout the United States in administrative and criminal investigations. Our services include mine safety training, counseling and representation during investigation and through trial. Examples of the matters our attorneys have handled include:
Marco Rajkovich is a Licensed Professional Engineer-Mining, Licensed Professional Land Surveyor and a Certified Underground Mine Foreman in Kentucky. Marco worked underground at U.S. Steel's mines in Harlan County, Kentucky, before attending law school. Marco provides training to mine employees on the latest safety issues, assisting our clients in the most important aspect of mine safety-compliance and the prevention of accidents.
Civil Litigation
Our litigation experience includes jury and bench trials in both federal courts and Kentucky circuit courts, as well as trials before the Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission and the Kentucky Mine Safety Review Commission. Our attorneys have handled many litigation matters over the years, including:
Our practice is not limited to the coal industry. Our clients include individuals, insurance companies, commercial lenders, architects, engineers, and a variety of small businesses.
Marco M. Rajkovich, Jr., a native of Lynch, Kentucky, concentrates his practice in the areas of mine safety and health, mineral and energy and administrative law. He represents coal operators in all facets of mine safety, including litigation, consultation and regulatory compliance. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer - Mining, a Licensed Professional Land Surveyor and Certified Underground Mine Foreman in Kentucky. Prior to his law career, he was with U.S. Steel Mining Company, Inc. serving in various positions in engineering as well as production.
Marco is a 1977 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Engineering where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering with the Mining Option and was a member of Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Honorary. He is a 1987 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law where he was a member of the Journal of Mineral Law & Policy.
Marco has been involved in representation of mining and land-holding companies in several mine explosions, disasters, major accident litigation and mineral law issues in both federal and Kentucky state courts, and administrative tribunals. He has argued cases in front of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and the Court of Appeals of Kentucky.
Marco is an author and frequent speaker at various mining industry conventions, meetings and seminars and a guest lecturer at the University of Kentucky College of Engineering, University of Kentucky College of Law and the Salmon P. Chase Law School of Northern Kentucky University. He is a contributor to The Coal Mining Reference Book (1997) and co-author of The Kentucky Environmental Law Handbook, Government Institutes (1991, 1993). Marco is authorized by the Kentucky Board of Licensure of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors as an instructor on ethics and minimum technical standards and has given national presentations on ethics for the National Society of Professional Engineers.
Marco has served as an officer and director of the Kentucky Engineering Foundation, a former member of the Executive Committee and Trustee of the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation, a former director of the Kentucky Coal Association and member of the KCA Health and Safety Committee, former Co-Chair of the Justice Committee of the Kentucky Appalachian Advisory Council.
The following are among Marco’s professional achievements and honors:
Marco also serves as Chair of the Governance Committee and member of the Financial Council for the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, a lifetime appointee as Defender of the Bond for the Tribunal of the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, Lector, Acolyte, Catholic Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, Emeritus Member of Legatus, Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, and director of Thy Kingdom Come Network,
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John M. Williams is a native of Loyall in Harlan County, Kentucky. John graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Business & Economics with a Bachelors of Business Administration (Finance) in 1984 and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1987. He has earned an “AV® Preeminent™” rating by Martindale Hubbell. John is a member of the Kentucky, Fayette County, American and Federal Bar Associations. He has held several officer positions with the Kentucky Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, including President in 2000. On several occasions, he organized the Federal Bar Association’s Introduction to Federal Practice seminar for new attorneys in the Eastern District of Kentucky. John is a volunteer counselor with the Kentucky Bar Association Lawyer’s Assistance Program.
John has extensive litigation experience in federal and state courts throughout Kentucky. Although his practice is primarily in mineral and energy and commercial litigation, John has experience in personal injury, construction claims, architect and engineer defense and collection matters. His experience in mineral law includes drafting and reviewing lease agreements, contract mining agreements and other transactions plus litigation of contract disputes, boundary disputes and personal injury matters. In the commercial litigation area, John has represented parties in business torts, lender liability and a wide variety of contract disputes.
John represents numerous coal companies in mine safety matters before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. He regularly represents operators in special investigations conducted by the Mine Safety and Health Administration and as well as advising these clients on compliance matters. He is also a frequent speaker on mine safety matters at local and national seminars. In 2006, John worked with the Kentucky Coal Association’s Health & Safety Committee reviewing and making recommendations regarding proposed changes to Kentucky’s mine safety laws.
John serves on the Board of Directors of Special Olympics Kentucky, Inc., and served as Board Chair for two years. He was also on the Board of the Lexington Children’s Museum, Inc. for almost ten years, during which he served as Board Chair for five years.
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Melanie J. Kilpatrick practices in the areas of mineral and energy, employment law, and commercial litigation. She has authored articles and given presentations on topics of interest in the mineral and energy and employment law fields. She is experienced in arguing appellate cases before the United States Court of Appeals, the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission. Ms. Kilpatrick has been admitted to practice before the Kentucky Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth and D.C. Circuits. She is a member of the Fayette County, Kentucky, Federal and American Bar Associations.
In addition to being on the Board of Directors of the Kentucky Coal Association and on the Scholarship Committee for the Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, Ms. Kilpatrick serves as a board member and Secretary for The Thomas D. Clark Foundation, Inc. and is a board member of Central Kentucky Radio Eye, Inc. She was Articles Editor (1995-96) and Staff Member (1994-95) for the Kentucky Law Journal. Ms. Kilpatrick served as law clerk to the Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr. on the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals from 1996-97. Ms. Kilpatrick received her B.A. degree with High Honors in 1992 from the University of Virginia and her J.D. degree (valedictorian) from the University of Kentucky in 1996.
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Noelle Holladay True is a native of Lexington, Kentucky. She is licensed to practice in Kentucky, and is admitted before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She received her B.S. degree with Honors in Finance from Indiana University in 1997, and graduated Order of the Coif in 2000 from the University of Kentucky College of Law.
Noelle practices in the areas of mine safety and health, employment law, and commercial litigation. Her primary focus area is Mine Safety and Health Administration work. She represents coal companies around the country in litigation matters before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, and locally before the Kentucky Mine Safety Review Commission. Noelle represents and advises mine operators during special investigations conducted by the Mine Safety and Health Administration in cases involving accidents, fatalities, and claims of discrimination, and also advises operators on other compliance issues involving federal and state agencies.
Noelle is a member of the Fayette County, Kentucky and American Bar Associations, as well as the Energy & Mineral Law Foundation, the Kentucky Coal Association, Coal Operators & Associates, and the Fayette County Bar’s Women Lawyers Association. She was a recipient of the 2004 Lexington Young Professionals Association’s "Rising Star Award." In law school, Noelle was an Associate Editor for the Kentucky Law Journal, in which she authored an article entitled "The Limited Fiduciary Duties Owed by Corporate Managers to Preferred Shareholders: A Need for Change." She now serves on the Board of Directors for the University of Kentucky College of Law Alumni Association, and also serves as Chair of the Steering Committee for the Southern Hills Early Childhood Program in Lexington. In the past, she has served on the Board of Directors (and as Treasurer) for the New Opportunity School for Women in Berea, Kentucky, on the Finance Committee for Southern Hills United Methodist Church, and on the Board of Directors for the Friends of Raven Run in Lexington. Noelle frequently makes presentations on topics of interest in the area of coal mine safety and health at various seminars throughout the country.
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Todd C. Myers is a Kentucky native, having spent his earlier years living in Morehead before moving to Lexington. Todd focuses his practice on litigation, including mine safety matters before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, construction claims, commercial litigation, employment disputes, public entity defense and general tort claims.
Todd earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law in 2000. During law school, Todd was a member of the National Mock Trial Team. He graduated from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration (Finance) in 1997.
Todd has extensive litigation experience, having tried cases in both state and federal courts, as well as handling hearings before numerous administrative agencies. He has successfully argued appeals before Kentucky appellate courts and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Todd has also written, lectured and trained employers regarding various issues in mine safety and employment law.
Todd is licensed to practice in Kentucky and West Virginia. He is also admitted before the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Kentucky and Southern District of West Virginia. He is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association, West Virginia State Bar Association, Fayette County Bar Association, Kentucky Defense Counsel, Federal Bar Association, Defense Research Institute, Energy & Mineral Law Foundation, and Kentucky Coal Association.
Todd has earned a “BV® Distinguished™” rating by Martindale Hubbell. Some of his significant cases include Mullins v. IBCS Mining, Inc., Kentucky Div., 2011 WL 4715169 (E.D. Ky. 2011): Laurel Const. Co., Inc. v. Paintsville Utility Com’n, 336 S.W.3d 903 (Ky. 2010); Morgan v. Bird, 289 S.W.3d 222 (Ky.App. 2009); and Price v. Paintsville Tourism Com’n, 261 S.W.3d 482 (Ky. 2008).
Todd serves on the Lexington Catholic High School Alumni Council and is a Board Member for the Lexington Children’s Theatre. Todd has also been an active volunteer for Junior Achievement in Lexington.
Rajkovich, Williams, Kilpatrick & True, PLLC
3151 Beaumont Centre Circle, Suite 375
Lexington, Kentucky 40513
Tel 859.245.1059
Fax 859.245.1231
www.rwktlaw.com
Take ALUMNI DR. to CHAUVIN DR. which becomes STERLINGTON RD. and ends at 2333 ALUMNI PARK PLAZA.