Law: J. BENJAMIN ROTTENBORN

Rottenborn made national headlines this year for representing “Aquaman” actress Amber Heard in the defamation trial brought by her world-famous ex-husband, Johnny Depp. During the widely viewed trial argued in Fairfax County Circuit Court, Rottenborn received intense public backlash from Depp fans. “I suspect that nobody around here or at his firm would have been ready for the level of backlash this case is getting,” Roanoke lawyer Jay O’Keeffe with MichieHamlett Attorneys at Law told Insider in May. Rottenborn, he said, could handle the scrutiny “better than anyone else I know. He’s extraordinarily level-headed.”

A Waynesboro native, Rottenborn graduated from the University of Virginia and Stanford Law School. He was quickly hired by the world’s highest-earning law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, in Chicago, where he became a partner in 2012. Since coming to Roanoke, he’s represented clients like Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., New Line Cinema and Wells Fargo & Co. His specialties include government investigations and white-collar criminal defense cases.

A U.Va. adjunct professor, Rottenborn has been named multiple times to The Best Lawyers in America, Virginia Super Lawyers and Virginia Business’ Legal Elite.