In January, Sands Anderson announced Geiger would serve as president of the firm’s three-person board. He has sat on the board since 2018.

Since joining the firm in 1998, Geiger has shaped his practice to focus on business litigation, eminent domain, legal ethics discipline and legal malpractice.

In May, Sands Anderson announced it had completed its merger with Frieden Seery Nuckols & Hahn, a real estate, corporate and estate planning firm in Virginia Beach. Following the merger, Sands Anderson had more than 80 lawyers working at six offices in Richmond, Williamsburg, Christiansburg, Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg and Durham, North Carolina.

Geiger earned his undergraduate and law degrees from William & Mary.

INTERESTING PLACE I’VE TRAVELED: As the son of a U.S. Air Force pilot, I lived and traveled throughout the United States and Europe.

FAVORITE TEAM: I support the Richmond Kickers, which is one of the oldest continuously operating professional soccer clubs in the United States.

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White joined McGuireWoods’ government investigations and white-collar litigation practice in 2022. The following year, he was named the Tysons office managing partner.

White was one of five civilians who sat on an independent review panel that examined Fort Hood’s command climate and culture. In 2020, he and the other members testified before the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel.

A West Point graduate, White served in the U.S. Army for five years. He continued in the Army Reserves while at Pepperdine University’s law school, where he was editor-in-chief of the Pepperdine Law Review.

White serves on numerous boards, including those of Pepperdine’s law school, James Madison University and the National Military Family Association.

He was a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. Previously, White clerked for Alito at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 2021, White ran in the Republican primary for Virginia attorney general but lost.

WHAT PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT ME: I speak Spanish. My wife is Costa Rican, and I’ve spent a lot of time in Latin America.

FIRST JOB: Screenwriter for MTV, writing public service announcements

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In 2024, Williams Mullen tapped Fowler to serve a fourth three-year term as the president and CEO of the state’s second-largest law firm, which employs 450 people, including more than 200 attorneys in Virginia.

Last year, the firm experienced double-digit percentage growth in revenue, bringing in $195.5 million in 2024. Fowler attributes its success partly to strong demand for corporate litigation and merger and acquisition work, as well as an 8% increase in attorney headcount.

A graduate of the University of Virginia and its law school, Fowler joined Williams Mullen more than 30 years ago. Through the years, his clients have included colleges and universities, health care systems and insurance companies.

Fowler sits on the boards of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges and the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, as well as on the executive committee of RVA757 Connects. He teaches law classes at the University of Richmond as an adjunct professor.

FIRST JOB: Making tires at the Goodyear plant in Danville

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For more than 25 years, Summerlin has advised businesses — from sole proprietorships to Fortune 500 companies — in environmental matters. Summerlin also assists employers with employment laws and regulations, including investigations with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

A Roanoke native, Summerlin returned to the Star City in 1997 to work at Woods Rogers after graduating from William & Mary Law School. The firm named him president in 2015.

In 2022, Woods Rogers merged with Norfolk-based Vandeventer Black, becoming Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black. Last year, the law firm — the fifth largest in Virginia — shortened its name back to Woods Rogers.

For the December 2024 issue of the Virginia State Bar’s Virginia Lawyer magazine, Summerlin and John Byrum, the firm’s Richmond office managing partner, contributed a column on how Virginia policy will likely be little changed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Sackett v. EPA, which narrowed the scope of wetlands subject to the Clean Water Act.

Summerlin sits on the board of the Council of Community Services, a Roanoke nonprofit that focuses on housing, health programs, information and referral services, and community engagement.

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An expert in civil procedure and federal jurisdiction, Spencer became William & Mary’s first Black dean in 2020.

Prior to his appointment, Spencer served on the faculty at the University of Virginia School of Law. He was the Bennett Boskey Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School during the 2019 to 2020 academic year.

The author of two books on civil procedure, which are used by law students throughout the country, Spencer is also an author of Wright & Miller’s “Federal Practice and Procedure,” a multivolume reference book series.

In his early 40s, Spencer joined the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps. In 2023, he was promoted to major and received the Meritorious Service Medal. Spencer retired from the Corps in June.

After earning his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College, Spencer headed to the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he was a Marshall scholar. In 2001, Spencer graduated from Harvard Law School.

Earlier this year, Spencer joined the board of Southern Company Gas.

ON INTEGRATING AI: It is vitally important that we modify the law school curriculum to provide generative AI competency for our students.

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A former journalist, Fletcher has led the state’s oldest voluntary bar association since 2021.

Under his leadership, the bar this year launched the VBA Leadership Academy to train the legal industry‘s next generation of leaders in Virginia.

Additionally, it has developed the first model policy for AI use by law firms and established task forces to address the profession’s future and the growing influence of AI on the practice of law.

Fletcher earned a master’s degree in English from Emory University before getting a law degree from Washington and Lee University in 1985. After graduating, Fletcher worked at White, Elliott & Bundy in Southwest Virginia for three years. In the late 1980s, he joined Virginia Lawyers Weekly as publisher and editor-in-chief, a role he held for more than three decades. He was named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s Hall of Fame in May.

Fletcher served as president of the Virginia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and was named national president in 2015. He’s also a past president of the Virginia Press Association.

PERSONAL MOTTO: I am a big “Star Trek” fan, so I’ll go with “Make it so.”

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Daniel stepped into the managing partner role at Hancock Daniel in early 2024, succeeding Page Gravely, who held the job for two decades.

Joining the firm in 2004, Daniel is experienced in defending employment law cases, including wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment. She also regularly represents health care entities and professionals.

A frequent speaker to health care groups, Daniel talked about the National Practitioner Data Bank and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Act at the 2024 National Association Medical Staff Services Conference. Additionally, Daniel has addressed groups about Virginia’s marijuana laws and implications for employers.

At Duke University, Daniel received a bachelor’s degree in political science and govern- ment. She earned her law degree at the University of Richmond. Before joining Hancock Daniel, she spent a decade at Troutman Sanders. She also served as a clerk for U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer.

Daniel is the secretary of the board of the Memorial Foundation for Children, a Richmond funding organization that assists agencies serving children. She also sits on the board of trustees of Richmond’s Reveille United Methodist Church.

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In 2020, Randall joined George Mason as dean of its law school. Previously, he served as dean of the University of Alabama School of Law for two decades. During his tenure, UA’s ranking rose from No. 96 to No. 21 on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Schools list. Scalia Law School’s rankings have also enjoyed a boost since Randall came aboard, rising from No. 41 in 2018 to No. 31 this year.

The law school had 436 students enrolled at the start of the 2024-25 school year, with 116 students in the entering class, an increase of 18.4% from 2023 but less than half the number of the 2021 class. Despite ongoing budget deficits, the school landed $7.6 million in gifts from donors last year.

In addition to leading Alabama’s law school, Randall founded iLaw Distance Education, an education technology company. The business was acquired in 2017.

An international law specialist, Randall launched his career at New York-based global firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He earned his law degree from Hofstra University and went on to earn further degrees from Yale and Columbia.

 

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As chief judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, Davis hears the stories of people’s lives. Lives that have been impacted by traumatic events, like armed robberies or gang violence. In 2023, for

instance, Davis sentenced the mother of the 6-year- old boy who shot his teacher at a Newport News elementary school for federal convictions related to the gun the child used.

In his work, Davis also frequently finds himself wading in deep constitutional waters. For example, a pair of Hampton Roads citizens filed a lawsuit in 2024 alleging that the City of Norfolk‘s use of automatic license plate reader cameras violates their constitutional rights. In February, Davis ruled that the case could move forward.

“Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that a warrantless search occurred, and thus interests that the Fourth Amendment was designed to protect have been violated,” he wrote in an order.

Before President George W. Bush nominated Davis to the U.S. District Court in 2007, he served as a Portsmouth Circuit Court judge.

Davis received his bachelor’s degree in American government from the University of Virginia and his law degree from Washington and Lee University.

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