Kaufman & Canoles has new president and CEO

Jason R. Davis became president and CEO of Norfolk-based law firm Kaufman & Canoles on Monday.

Davis, who has been with Kaufman & Canoles since 1997, succeeds William R. Van Buren III in his role as president. Van Buren has served as the firm’s president and chairman for 16 years and will remain chairman.

“I am humbled and honored that my colleagues have the confidence to allow me to continue in the footsteps of my mentor and friend,” Davis said in a statement. “Under Mr. Van Buren’s leadership, our firm has become a leader in the legal industry, and I expect our growth only to accelerate in the coming years.”

Davis has been a member of the firm’s executive committee and is co-chair of its health care team. In his practice, he represents and advises hospitals, physicians, long-term care facilities and other health care providers. Davis holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from William & Mary Law School.

Under Van Buren’s tenure, Kaufman & Canoles extended to the Raleigh, North Carolina, market and became a member of TerraLex, an international network of law firms. The firm also received the Civic Leadership Institute’s 2019 corporate Darden Award, recognizing leadership in regional cooperation.

Additionally, the firm elected L. Scott Seymour, chair of its business taxation practice group and co-chair of its mergers and acquisitions group, and re-elected Nicole J. Harrell to its executive committee. Harrell will also serve as executive vice president of practice management, a role in which she will oversee the firm’s practice groups. Paul W. Gerhardt, managing director of the firm’s Richmond office, will also remain on the executive committee.

“As we continue to expand on our successes in Virginia and North Carolina, we are dedicated to providing our clients with excellent client service and coordinated teamwork managed by some of the best leaders at the firm,” Van Buren said in a statement. “I look forward to stepping back from my management role and continuing to be deeply involved in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions and health care practices and its ongoing business development efforts.”

Created by the merger of two law firms in 1982, Kaufman & Canoles had 92 lawyers in Virginia as of Jan. 1.