W Schrock

Background

W. Fletcher McMurry Schrock was born on October 4, 1952, in Washington, North Carolina. Washington lies on the Pamlico River in eastern North Carolina, a coastal plain region shaped by agriculture and river trade.

The documented record of his childhood is limited. His later life centered on western Kentucky, where he has built his legal career in Paducah, a city at the junction of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. He became an Eagle Scout, and youth scouting later became a lasting part of his civic service.

Education

Before entering university, Schrock attended the College du Leman in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva has long been a center of international diplomacy and multilingual education, and the school gave him a secondary education outside the United States.

He received a Bachelor of Arts degree with high distinction, majoring in sociology, from the University of Kentucky in 1974. While attending the university, he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic honor society in the United States, founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary. The University of Kentucky was established in 1865 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky and later became the state's principal public university in Lexington.

He graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1976 with a Juris Doctor degree. He was selected for membership on the Moot Court Board for excellence in brief writing and oral advocacy. Moot court programs train law students in written appellate briefing and oral argument before panels of judges.

Career

Schrock was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1977 and has practiced law in Paducah since that year. He is affiliated with McMurry & Livingston, PLLC, a Paducah law firm established in 1966 by W. Pelham McMurry and Milton M. Livingston Jr. The firm describes itself as the oldest continuously named law practice in Paducah.

His practice has focused on personal injury, criminal law, product liability, and general civil litigation in both state and federal courts. Paducah's position in western Kentucky, where the Ohio and Tennessee rivers meet, placed the firm within a regional legal community serving local businesses, residents, and institutions. His leadership of the Kentucky Bar Association, described under membership, extended his professional work beyond the firm.

Membership

Schrock's principal professional affiliation is the Kentucky Bar Association. The association traces its origins to a voluntary meeting of Kentucky lawyers in 1871, and a 1934 act of the General Assembly made it the mandatory bar for the Commonwealth. It operates as an independent agency of the Supreme Court of Kentucky, administering the rules that govern the practice of law in the state.

Within the association, Schrock served on the Ethics Committee from 2009 to 2014, the Ethics Hotline program during the same period, and the Rules Committee. He represented the First Supreme Court District on the Board of Governors from 2014 to 2020, then became vice-president, president-elect, and president, serving as president from July 2023 to June 2024.

His other memberships include the McCracken County Bar Association, the local bar association for Paducah's county, and the Kentucky Justice Association. Phi Alpha Delta is a professional legal fraternity founded to bring together law students and lawyers, and Phi Beta Kappa recognizes academic distinction in the liberal arts and sciences.

Schrock's civic service includes the Boy Scouts of America, chartered in 1910 to provide youth programs built on outdoor activities and character development. He held district and council roles with the Four Rivers District Committee and the Lincoln Heritage Council. He also serves the Salvation Army, an international charitable organization founded in London in 1865, through its advisory board in Paducah, and he sits on the board of Made To Stay, which provides services to seniors and disabled adults.

• Served on the Ethics Committee and Rules Committee and on the Board of Governors; president from July 2023 to June 2024.

  Kentucky Bar Association

• McCracken County Bar Association

• Kentucky Justice Association

• Phi Alpha Delta

• Inducted while an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky.

  Phi Beta Kappa

• Past chairman; received the Certificate of Life Member in 2018.

  Salvation Army Advisory Board, Paducah Corps

• Executive Board Member and Executive Committee Member.

  Lincoln Heritage Council, Boy Scouts of America

• District Chairman.

  Four Rivers District Committee, Boy Scouts of America

• Board of Directors.

  Made To Stay

References

• W. Fletcher McMurry Schrock, McMurry & Livingston, PLLC Biographical profile of Schrock published by his law firm, covering his practice since 1977, his education at the University of Kentucky, and his civic service with the Boy Scouts of America and the Salvation Army.
• Paducah attorney named president of Kentucky Bar Association Local news report on Schrock's induction as president of the Kentucky Bar Association at the association's banquet in Lexington, noting that he had practiced law in Paducah since 1977.
  2023