Lynchburg and Danville law firms to merge

The law firms of Petty, Livingston, Dawson & Richards in Lynchburg and Southern Virginia Legal (SoVa Legal) in Danville will merge to become PLDR Law beginning Jan. 1, 2024, the two law firms announced Wednesday.

Together, the two firms will jointly have 16 attorneys and have offices in Lynchburg and Danville, serving communities across Central and Southern Virginia, according to a news release announcing the merger.

Scott Kowalski, president of Petty, Livingston, Dawson & Richards, will be president of the newly merged firm. Steven Gould, founder and managing attorney of SoVa Legal, will chair the firm’s transactional practice and manage the Danville office. Holly Trent will join the new firm to lead its health care practice. Trent was most recently senior vice president and chief legal officer of Centra Health.

Kowalski practices construction law, surety law and litigation and has practiced since 1995. He clerked at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and practiced for more than a decade in McLean for Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald. He returned to his hometown of Lynchburg to join the firm in 2009. He attended William & Mary for his bachelor’s in history and earned his law degree at George Mason University School of Law.

“We are thrilled to announce this merger of two accomplished firms,” Kowalski said in a statement. “Petty Livingston has experienced significant growth the last two years, and SoVa Legal has developed a tremendous reputation assisting clients who are helping to drive economic revitalization in the Danville area. By combining our resources and talents, we can expand our offerings to clients even further. The addition of Holly Trent is a key component of that expansion.”

Before Gould formed SoVa Legal, he co-founded Byrnes Gould Law and practiced at Williams Mullen in Richmond and Clement Wheatley in Danville. He has served as chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division and will serve on the VBA’s Board of Governors in 2024, a board he has previously served on. Gould also was on the Board of Directors of the Virginia Law Foundation. Before attending law school, Gould spent five years as a policy adviser in the governor’s office in Richmond, where he worked on economic and workforce development, agriculture, housing and executive clemency. He worked under U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine when each served as governor. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina and his law degree from the University of Virginia.

“We have enjoyed a strong collaboration with the attorneys at Petty Livingston in recent years to supplement the business, employment, and estate planning services we offer to our clients. The opportunity to join forces allows us to ensure that the Danville market continues to be served by a robust, full-service firm that can grow with our community,” Gould said in a statement.

This story has been corrected since publication.