Advocacy, Professionalism,

Service, Collegiality

2013: What a year of accomplishments

Watch a video or listen to the audio of some of the best programming for Virginia attorneys, organized by your peers in the VBA.

  

As a valued member of the VBA, you receive a discount. Non-members also can enjoy these quality presentations.  

  

During January, eight individuals joined or reactivated their membership with the VBA. Thanks for getting (re)acquainted!

If you ever have a question about membership, please contact Katie Heflin, our member coordinator.

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The latest VBA-commissioned portrait of a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia was unveiled Jan. 24 at the black-tie banquet. With Justice Cleo E. Powell and her family on stage, then-VBA President Thomas R. Bagby and artist Vicars Lynn McKinney removed the drape. The portrait of Justice Powell is the latest painting of justices commissioned in the past 50 years by the VBA. These portraits hang in the justices' chambers until their retirement, when they are given to the court and become part of its portrait collection.

 

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Then-President-elect John L. Walker III offered a toast celebrating President Tom Bagby's year at the helm of the VBA. He mentioned Bagby's interest in inclusion, which led to the VBA Annual Meeting being held in collaboration with the Old Dominion Bar Association. Its president, Vinceretta Taylor Chiles, also addressed the 450 banquet attendees.

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Travis G. Hill, chair of the Young Lawyers Division last year, presented honors to two attorneys for service to the Young Lawyers Division and the VBA as a whole:  

• W. Alexander Burnett of Williams Mullen in Richmond received the Sandra P. Thompson Award for outstanding work and exceptional long-term service. In particular, his work on behalf of the National Moot Court Competition was lauded.
• Christopher M. Gill of Christian & Barton, L.L.P., in Richmond received the Emerson G. Spies Award for enthusiasm, loyalty and dedication in work for the organization in a given year. Gill has overseen significant growth in participation in the Legal Food Frenzy.

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John L. Walker III became the 126th president of The Virginia Bar Association on Jan. 25 during the winter meeting in Williamsburg. His father and grandfather also were presidents of the VBA. A partner at Williams Mullen in Richmond, Walker succeeds Thomas R. Bagby, who remains on the executive committee as immediate past president.

 

Other officers are Harry M. "Pete" Johnson III as president-elect and James P. Guy II as chair of the Board of Governors. Elaina L. Blanks-Green joins the executive committee in her new role as chair of the Young Lawyers Division.

 

Cheryl L. Black became chair of the Law Practice Management Division. Nupur S. Bal joins the Board of Governors as chair-elect of the YLD. 

 

New representatives on the Board of Governors for three-year terms are: 

• William A. Galanko as Tidewater Region representative,
• Michael HuYoung as Capitol Region representative,
• C.J. Steuart Thomas III as Blue Ridge Region representative, and
• Mary C. Zinsner as Potomac Region representative.

 

Get to know the representatives. Find their photos and bios in the 2014 VBA Leadership Slate (PDF).

 

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The VBA also recognizes members Delphine Carnes, Robert Delano Jr. and Victor Cardwell for winning the Annual Meeting exhibit hall drawings for overnight hotel stays.

   

Thanks, also, to the 2014 Annual Meeting sponsors and exhibitors.

 

SPONSORS:	MercerTrigiani
Colonial Williamsburg	SunTrust Bank
Equity Concepts, L.L.C.	The McCammon Group
Hunton & Williams LLP	Troutman Sanders LLP
LexisNexis	Virginia Business
McCandlish & Lillard, P.C.	McGuireWoods LLP
Wells Fargo Private Bank Legal Specialty Group	Whitham, Curtis, Christofferson & Cook, P.C.
Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company	Williams Mullen Woods Rogers PLC

 

EXHIBITORS:	SmartAdvocate LLC
Berman & Wright Architecture, Engineering & Planning, LLC	Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company
CourtCall	The Virginia Bar Association
Equity Concepts, L.L.C.	TowneBank Private Banking
Lawyers Helping Lawyers	USA Affinity
The McCammon Group	Virginia Barristers Alliance Inc.
VLF/VBA Rule of Law Project	Young, Hyde & Barbour, P.C.

 

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GOT NEWS? Send your announcements about VBA members to Communications Coordinator Marilyn Shaw.

NEW JOB: Former VBA LPMD Chair Michael J. Quinan (photo at right) has been elected managing partner of Christian & Barton, L.L.P. He succeeds J. Edward Betts, who held the managing partner position for 23 years and served as VBA president in 2002. Betts remains a senior partner. ... Christian & Barton also welcomed Andrew C. Baird III as an associate in the firm's health care and business law departments. He previously was a law clerk for the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, and the Department of Health and Human Services, office of Inspector General. ... Former Sands Anderson attorney Steve Baril is now partner and head of the Richmond litigation and government relations teams for Kaplan Voekler Cunningham and Frank PLC, Virginia Business reported. ... VBA Board of Governors member S. Miles Dumville (photo at left) is office managing partner at Reed Smith LLP's Richmond office. He succeeds VBA member Curtis Manchester, who is focusing full-time on his commercial litigation and dispute resolution practice.  

NEW SHAREHOLDERS, NEW DIRECTORS, NEW PARTNERS: ThompsonMcMullan announced that David R. Ruby and Neil S. Talegaonkar became shareholders of the firm last month. Three VBA members -- Zachary D. Cohen, Thomas D. Lane and Andrea J. Yoak -- were elected as new directors of the firm. ... Richmond real estate attorney William G. Homiller is one of nine new partners in five Troutman Sanders LLP offices. ... Andrew R. McRoberts has been elected a shareholder at Sands Anderson PC.

APPOINTMENTS: Courtney M. Malveaux was appointed by Gov. Bob McDonnell to represent industrial employers on the Virginia Safety and Health Codes Board. ... Former Virginia first lady and Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Anne Holton was named by incoming Gov. Terry McAuliffe as the state's next secretary of education. She is married to U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and is the daughter of another former governor, A. Linwood Holton Jr. ... Rhodes B. Ritenour was appointed deputy attorney general for civil litigation in the Virginia Attorney General's office. Ritenour previously was a partner based in the Richmond office of LeClairRyan. ... The board of directors of the USO of Hampton Roads and Central Virginia elected VBA member and Inman & Strickler, P.L.C., lawyer Lee A. Handford to its board.

HONORS: The family of the late Benjamin R. Lacy IV accepted on his behalf the Richmond Bar Association's 2014 John C. Kenny Pro Bono Award. Lacy, who died in 2012, assisted the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation's Pro Bono Clearinghouse since its inception in 2001. The award honors individuals and law firms who show dedication to furthering the delivery of pro bono legal services in the metro Richmond area. Lacy was a continuous VBA member since 1975.

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