APPELLATE LAW

Title: Principal

Other legal specialties: Critical motions practice; education law

Birthplace: Virginia; grew up in Huddleston

Education: Bachelor’s degree, Harvard College, magna cum laude; law degree, Harvard Law School, cum laude

Spouse: Michael Finney (a partner at Gentry Locke)

First job as a lawyer: Trial attorney, U.S. Department of Justice

Recently read book: I saw Liza Mundy speak at the Winter Virginia Bar Association meeting and got a signed copy of “Code Girls.”

Career mentors: I’ve been fortunate to have mentors who have really invested in my career. Before joining Woods Rogers, I clerked for the Hon. Michael F. Urbanski. At Woods Rogers, I’ve had the pleasure of working for and then with James Jennings and Frank Friedman.

How is appellate law different from other legal specialties?  In most appeals, a case that took four years to litigate gets 15 minutes of oral argument. Similarly, thousands of pages of transcript need to be expressed in one or two briefs. An appellate brief needs to tell a story that captures the minutiae without dwelling in it. The fun and challenge of being an appellate attorney is finding a way to stay true to the case when you cannot explain all the details.

What has been your most memorable case?  Smith v. McLaughlin, 289 Va. 241 (2015) stands out because of its complexity. It was a legal malpractice appeal that arose from another legal malpractice case, that in turn arose from a criminal prosecution. Smith was also a chance to think about questions fundamental to our profession. At our urging, the Supreme Court of Virginia ultimately ruled that it is not malpractice to fail to anticipate a change in the law and recognized a new affirmative defense.

Appellate Law list

Erin B. Ashwell
Woods Rogers PLC
Roanoke

Patrick Blake
Willcox Savage PC
Norfolk

Tillman Breckenridge
Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht LLP
Washington, D.C.

Mark Coberly
Vandeventer Black LLP
Norfolk

R. Johan Conrod Jr.
Sanford, Heisler, Sharp LLP/
The Cicala Law Firm PLLC
Washington

Trevor Cox
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Richmond

Alan Croft
McCandlish Lillard PC
Fairfax

Robert Delano
Sands Anderson PC
Richmond

S. Miles Dumville
Reed Smith LLP
Richmond

Steve Emmert
Sykes, Bourdon, Ahern & Levy PC
Virginia Beach

Matthew A. Fitzgerald
McGuireWoods LLP
Richmond

Craig Franco
Odin, Feldman & Pittleman PC
Reston

Frank Friedman
Woods Rogers PLC
Roanoke

William Hurd
Troutman Sanders LLP
Richmond

Jeanine Irving
Sevila Saunders Huddleston & White PC
Leesburg

Robert Loftin
McGuireWoods LLP
Richmond

Matthew R. McGuire
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Richmond

Monica Taylor Monday
Gentry Locke Attorneys
Roanoke

David E. Nagle
Jackson Lewis PC
Richmond

John O’Herron
ThompsonMcMullan PC
Richmond

Jay O’Keeffe
Johnson, Rosen & O’Keeffe
Roanoke

Joseph Pope
Solo practitioner
Richmond

Juli M. Porto
Blankingship & Keith PC
Fairfax

Joseph Rainsbury
Miles & Stockbridge PC
Richmond

Stuart Raphael
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Richmond

Paige Smith
Sands Anderson PC
McLean

George A. Somerville
Harman Claytor Corrigan & Wellman PC
Richmond

Brett Spain
Willcox Savage PC
Norfolk

Norman A. Thomas
Norman A. Thomas PLLC
Richmond

The Hon. John Charles Thomas (Ret.)
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Richmond

Robert Vieth
Hirschler
Tysons

John Walk
Hirschler
Richmond