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Woods Rogers returns to original name
Call it a strategy of going back to the future — the merged Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black law firm is shortening its name back to its original appellation of Woods Rogers, executives announced Monday. In 2022, Roanoke-based Woods Rogers merged with Vandeventer Black in Norfolk, creating the state’s fifth largest law firm, with more than […]
Virginia 500 Spotlight: VICTOR O. CARDWELL
PERSONAL MOTTO: Every day is a new opportunity to do something good and to help someone succeed. FIRST JOB: I worked at a fast-food restaurant for about three days in high school. They wanted me to shave my baby-hair mustache, but my parents would not let me. They thought it was too soon for me […]
Law 2023: VICTOR O. CARDWELL
Cardwell grew up in a family that highly valued education, and after his sister went to law school, so did he. A University of Virginia and Washington and Lee law graduate, Cardwell now is one of the leaders at the state’s fifth largest law firm, which formed in 2022 with the merger of Vandeventer Black […]
Law 2023: DANIEL C. SUMMERLIN III
A Roanoke native, Summerlin practices law in areas ranging from administrative and regulatory — with an emphasis on environmental law — to labor and employment and litigation, as well as leading the direction of Virginia’s fifth largest law firm. Additionally, he counsels clients on government investigations and white-collar criminal defense. Before Roanoke law firm Woods […]
Tech support
With the combination of new tech businesses and older companies employing artificial intelligence and other innovations, Virginia needs lawyers who know the difference between bitcoin and blockchain. As the commonwealth becomes home to more defense contracting giants, along with Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2, law firms and law schools are busy bringing attorneys and students up to […]
Resetting the bar
Two venerable Virginia law firms — Roanoke‘s Woods Rogers PLC and Norfolk‘s Vandeventer Black LLP — combined forces in July 2022, creating the state’s fifth largest firm, Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black PLC, based in Roanoke. It’s a true statewide firm, with branch offices in Norfolk, Richmond, Lynchburg and Charlottesville, in addition to locations in Kitty […]
VICTOR CARDWELL
Hall of Fame member A former University of Virginia defensive back and high school athlete from Lynchburg, Cardwell has built a career in labor law. After graduating from Washington & Lee University School of Law, he worked at the Department of Labor’s Benefits Review Board before joining Woods Rogers, the Roanoke-based law firm (now Woods […]
Hitting home
“The stereotypical view is that every young lawyer wants to work from home,” unlike their older peers, observes Victor O. Cardwell, principal and chairman of Roanoke-based Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black PLC. Indeed, 51% of baby boomer attorneys report being eager or very eager to get back to the office, but just 22% of their millennial […]
Woods Rogers, Vandeventer Black law firms to merge July 1
Woods Rogers PLC and Vandeventer Black LLP announced Wednesday that the two law firms have agreed to merge as Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black, creating the state’s fifth-largest firm, with more than 130 attorneys and a total workforce of 250 people. The merger will go into effect July 1. Daniel Summerlin, president of Roanoke-based Woods Rogers, […]
