2020 Legal Elite — Appellate Law Profile

Title: Shareholder
Other legal specialties: Trial and appellate counsel in tort and insurance litigation in state and federal courts, with a significant portion of practice devoted to the defense of life, health, disability and ERISA litigation
Education: Bachelor’s degree and law degree, William & Mary
Spouse: Mary Ann Delano
Children: Philip; John
Hobbies or pastimes: Scouting (received 50-year Boy Scouts of America Veteran Award for service to youth through scouting), family history and photography
First job as a lawyer: Law clerk to Justice W. Carrington Thompson of the Supreme Court of Virginia and U.S. District Judge Jackson L. Kiser of the Western District of Virginia
Fan of: William & Mary Tribe
Favorite vacation spot: My native Northern Neck
Recently read books: “The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III,” by Peter Baker and Susan Glasser
Career mentor: My longtime law partner and colleague Albert Marcellus Orgain IV
How did your time as a Supreme Court of Virginia law clerk inform your practice today?
Serving as a law clerk to a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia provided me with valuable insight on the appellate process, as the justices reviewed numerous appealed trial court cases and selected which cases are deserving of being resolved in a final decision by Virginia’s highest appellate court.
How does appellate law differ from other legal specialties?
Appellate law is different because it gives the attorney the opportunity to help shape the law while handling cases being appealed from the trial court to the appellate court. The appellate attorney’s work has potential wide-ranging precedential effects beyond the immediate case to other future cases presenting similar facts or that specific point of law.

See more from our 2020 Legal Elite package:

• 2020 Legal Elite: Appellate Law list
• The 21st edition of the Virginia Business Legal Elite

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