Partner Vivian Basdekis is the newest partner in Frost Brown Todd’s (FBT) Charleston, WV office. She is an experienced commercial litigator and trial attorney whose practice focuses on the financial services, construction, energy, and media industries.
Basdekis specializes in commercial contract disputes and business torts. She has represented business clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in disputes involving breach of contract, fraud, civil RICO, unfair competition, antitrust, statutory violations, class actions, condemnation actions, claims under the Uniform Commercial Code, and other business torts. For more than a decade, she has authored the West Virginia chapter in Business Torts; A Fifty-State Guide, a treatise published by Wolters Kluwer.
Her financial services litigation work includes representing banking and financial institutions in breach-of-contract disputes, such as bank participation agreements, and claims involving business torts and statutory violations. Further, in working on behalf of such institutions, Basdekis has also successfully defended claims filed by both consumers and the Office of the Attorney General under the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. She has co-authored the “West Virginia Commercial Lending Law” chapter, published by the American Bar Association.
Basdekis’ construction work includes representing owners, architects, engineers, land surveyors, and contractors. She has handled mechanics’ lien work on private projects and surety bond claims on public projects. She handles claims in the state and federal courts of West Virginia, the West Virginia Court of Claims, and before the West Virginia Boards for professional architects, engineers, and contractors. Basdekis has prepared the West Virginia chapter in the State-by-State Guide to Architect, Engineer, and Contractor Licensing, published by Aspen Law & Business. In addition, she has authored the West Virginia chapter in the 50-State Construction Lien and Bond Law publication by Aspen Law & Business. She has also prepared the “Construction Laws and Customs: West Virginia” chapter, published by Thompson Reuters.
With regard to her First Amendment practice, Basdekis has represented the West Virginia Broadcasters’ Association and media clients-including newspapers, radio and television stations, reporters, and publishers-in defamation, privacy rights, copyright, trademark, and commercial appropriation disputes.
For nearly 15 years, Basdekis has co-authored Keeping It Legal: A Guide for Broadcasters published by the West Virginia Broadcasters’ Association as the pre-eminent guide for its media members. During this time, she has presented at the West Virginia Broadcasters’ Association annual meetings. She has also authored the “West Virginia Right of Publicity Laws” chapter published by Practical Law, the “Survey of West Virginia Libel Law” chapter found in the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC) 50-State Survey, the “Trademark Laws: West Virginia State Q&A” published by Practical Law Intellectual Property & Technology, and the “Intellectual Property: West Virginia” chapter, published by Lex Mundi.
Basdekis has an active practice representing clients in alcohol licensing with the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Commission (WVABC) and representing clients for video lottery licensing with the West Virginia Lottery. Her clients have included restaurants, hotels, resorts, farm wineries, beer wholesalers, distilleries, and other business.
She has performed hundreds of interstate and West Virginia adoptions. She also practices surrogacy law, representing intended parents and gestational carriers in the negotiation and drafting of gestational surrogacy agreements. Basdekis frequently represents national and international clients in West Virginia court proceedings to obtain pre-birth, post-birth, and parentage orders.
She is a graduate of George Washington University School of Law and George Mason University and a former Media Relations Director for the Washington D.C. public policy think tank American Hellenic Institute (AHI). AHI deals with the common interests between and among the United States, the Hellenic Republic (Greece), and the Republic of Cyprus.
In 2022, Basdekis was a member of Leadership West Virginia, and she was the recipient of the “Generation Next: 40-Under-40, Class of 2018.” She has also been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for “Litigation-Banking and Finance” (2021-2023) and the West Virginia Super Lawyers® Rising Stars for Business Litigation (2015-2017). She previously served as Vice President and Board Member of the Kanawha Pastoral Counseling Center (KPCC), and she was the President of the John A. Field, Jr. American Inn of Court located in Charleston, WV.
Basdekis is licensed in West Virginia, including its state and federal courts, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
FBT’s litigation practice is distinguished as one of the top in the firm’s 16 market footprint. The team prides itself on providing innovative, timely and strategic solutions to complex legal issues that support client’s business goals. Specialties include banking and financial disputes, real estate and land use litigation, antitrust, unfair competition litigation, securities and corporate disputes and white collar criminal defense.
