2025 In-House Counsel Awards: Ute Heidenreich

Number of years with firm: 17

Legal leadership: My background includes experience in the banking section of a major law firm where I represented a number of banks on loan transactions and in work-outs. As the first in-house counsel at one of Virginia’s largest and fast-growing community banks, I became a resource for our board, senior management, and bankers across a great variety of scenarios. I have been named to Virginia Business Legal Elite and Coastal Virginia Top Lawyers in the corporate counsel categories since their respective inceptions.

Pro bono work/community or civil involvement: At TowneBank, all employees are encouraged to serve their communities by lending their time and expertise to organizations. I have been a board member of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, where I served as board chair during a significant leadership transition. I have also served on the board of The CIVIC Leadership Institute and as a founding local advisory committee member of LISC Hampton Roads, which was recently consolidated into LISC Virginia. I am a frequent presenter to audiences ranging from attorneys to real estate professionals and CPAs on tax deferred exchanges.

Most pressing issue that IHCs face: Lawyers at community banks face the same broad range of responsibilities, including regulatory expectations, as those in larger institutions, but with a much smaller staff. Our goal continues to be to remain accessible as open-door resources for all our teams and to be ready to handle all the challenges as they arise.

Evolution of the IHC position: Reliance on outside counsel has increased significantly as issues have simply grown too complex for generalists. The role of in-house counsel has become much more managerial.