Other legal specialties: Administrative law and land use and zoning law
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Georgetown University; law degree, University of Richmond
Spouse: Barbara A. Cochrane
Children: Dr. Emily Buniva Edelson, Nathan D. Buniva and stepsons Jamison, Andrew and David Weaver
First job as a lawyer: Assistant attorney general in the health and environmental sections
Fan of: Georgetown University basketball and any playoffs in college or professional sports
Recently read books: “Copperhead: A Novel,” by Alexi Zentner; “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption,” by Bryan Stevenson; and “The American Experiment: Dialogues on a Dream,” by David M. Rubenstein
What was it like serving as Virginia State Bar president during the height of the pandemic? How did that change your tenure? I had high hopes that during my time as president, the VSB would make great strides in closing the justice gap. …. The pandemic dashed many of those dreams and required substantial adjustments to my plans and travel schedule.
You’ve represented the Hanover County NAACP and a group of largely Black Hanover homeowners opposed to a Wegmans distribution center. What have you learned battling such a powerful project? I can say that fighting state and local governments and large corporations is a challenge, with approximately 12 lawyers against one. Nevertheless, I am blessed to have the opportunity to represent a knowledgeable, determined and dedicated group of clients who deserve justice. Obviously, I can’t guarantee that justice will be done ultimately, but I am optimistic. After all, David did defeat Goliath.
Other legal specialties: Business law, including maritime business and commercial litigation
Birthplace: Alexandria
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Davidson College; Law degree, William & Mary School of Law
Spouse: Patrick Brogan (also my law partner)
Children: Three, plus a son-in-law and a
daughter-in-law
Recently read book: “The Big Sea: An Autobiography,” by Langston Hughes
Favorite vacation spot: Corolla, North Carolina
Career mentors: My father, David M. Burke, who taught by example the importance of honor, integrity, family, community and education. He also tutored me thoroughly in banking and sports.
How has your client load been affected by the pandemic? The pandemic caused many business owners and operators to reevaluate their long-term business goals and legal needs. A number are currently considering restructuring their business operations, whether by developing exit or succession strategies, contracting or expanding, attracting new investors, or just closing the doors. … Because of the wide variety and availability of COVID-19 relief, insolvency is not the issue. Some clients are choosing to wind down their businesses outside of bankruptcy to avoid taking on new debt to keep a failing business alive.
As a Virginia State Bar Council member, what are some of your priorities? We need to figure out how to provide better access to quality legal services in the 21st century and improve supervision over those who offer virtual legal services that are not licensed to practice law in Virginia. … We cannot continue to meet our obligation to protect the public through regulation of only licensed Virginia lawyers.
What is the biggest current challenge for protecting intellectual property? Trying to figure out if and how you can get utility patent protection to “work” for software-based inventions, given the Patent Office’s tedious “subject matter eligibility” criteria. While you can always utilize other types of IP protections for software, there is often a lot of creativity in software that can and should be rewarded with utility patent protection. The trick is to craft a patent application that captures the client’s creativity in a format that satisfies the Patent Office’s subject matter eligibility criteria.
What areas of technology are most popular for patents these days? All technologies are well-represented in patents today. I am currently helping clients protect inventions ranging from simple and clever consumer goods to complex artificial intelligence systems. Creativity happens at all levels of complexity.
You’re also an inventor. What did you invent? In the early to mid-’90s, I invented and patented a fingerless mitten (Patent No. 5,172,427) and marketed it under the trademark “S’warms.” I came up with the idea when out on a cold morning run. It was a very simple product that utilized four types of IP (patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret). I appeared on QVC for several seasons and licensed the patent/trademark out to a golf products manufacturer for the golf market. I still use that experience as a teaching tool for new clients.
Education: Bachelor’s degree, Harding University; law degree, George Mason University
Spouse: Joshua B. Isaacs
Children: Daughter Norah, 6 months
Recently read book: Having loved “The Giver,” by Lois Lowry since middle school, I recently discovered that it was the first book in a quartet, and I particularly enjoyed the fourth book, “Son.”
Favorite vacation spot: The Galápagos Islands, Croatia and anywhere in Italy
What do you see as emerging areas of litigation for employment discrimination law? In Virginia, particularly with the expansion of the Virginia Human Rights Act in 2020, I expect an increase in litigation arising out of an employee’s gender identity as well as an increase in claims by women seeking accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions (including lactation).
You’ve worked on a pro bono basis for clients involved in conservatorship matters. What impact has the Britney Spears case had on this? Britney Spears’ case has highlighted the potential for abuse in a system designed to protect against abuse. While I have been fortunate that the lawyers, guardians ad litem, and guardians and conservators with whom I have practiced have prioritized the respondent’s dignity and have worked together to tailor orders to be no more restrictive than necessary, I hope Britney Spears’ case will make my positive experience a more typical one.
They might be new to their positions, but they bring decades of expertise and new vantage points to the table. Here’s a sampling of Virginians — some fresh faces, others familiar — who have recently taken on significant new leadership roles.
Ambrose
Stephen Ambrose
Chief climate scientist, Science Applications International Corp.
Reston
Hurricane Agnes slammed the Washington , D.C., region in June 1972, fueling Stephen Ambrose’s interest in climate and weather. Ambrose kept an amateur weather station at his parents’ home in Silver Spring, Maryland. He later worked in meteorology, physical sciences and satellites at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration before following his passion for space and astronomy to NASA, where he worked for a dozen years, including as a disaster manager during Hurricane Katrina. In his newly created role at SAIC, Ambrose expects to tackle solutions to climate’s impact, including incorporating data, to “develop an enterprise solution to contribute to society,” he says. When he’s not working, Ambrose enjoys riding his Harley Davidsons, exploring his family’s genealogy and volunteering with Team Rubicon, a nonprofit disaster response organization.
Burcham
Erin Burcham
Executive director, Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council
Roanoke and Blacksburg
In June, Erin Burcham became the first woman to lead the Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council. She’s hoping one of her early wins in the post will be to secure a regional grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, which would be used to develop commercial wet-lab space in Roanoke for the biotech industry. “Fralin Biomedical Research Institute is producing multiple teams of researchers that are ready to commercialize,” she says. “They just need some wet lab space to stay in the region.” Burcham, who grew up in Galax and has worked in the New River Valley for the last 15 years, previously led and managed two GO Virginia grants totaling $280,000 as director of talent solutions at the Roanoke Regional Partnership.
Frank Castellanos has lived and worked around the globe. In his first career as a foreign service officer, he spent 20 years working for the State Department, serving six tours in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia and holding command positions in war zones and other hostile environments. He was an associate with the National Intelligence Council and served on several interagency boards, guiding U.S. policy and investments, and protecting American interests abroad. Castellanos says his time living in different places gives him great perspective in business. About five years ago, the Cuban native returned to his first love: finance. In September, Castellanos was named Hampton Roads market president for Bank of America, replacing retiring president Charlie Henderson.
Ferguson
Rodney E. Ferguson
Executive vice president, Pamunkey Indian Tribal Gaming Authority
Next year, Rodney Ferguson will be focused on developing the Pamunkey Indian Tribe’s $500 million HeadWaters Resort & Casino in downtown Norfolk, a project anticipated to generate about 2,500 full-time jobs and as much as $30.8 million in local annual tax revenue. He left a “wonderful” job as CEO and general manager of a large Milwaukee casino because this was an amazing opportunity, he says — and it didn’t hurt that he was raised 30 miles from the proposed Norfolk casino and still maintains a home there, which will cut his commute from 1,000 miles to 10. Over the past three decades, Ferguson has worked for casinos all over the country, from Atlantic City to Wisconsin, “[learning] to respect and adapt to various cultures.” Establishing a culture of diversity and inclusion is a primary goal for the new venture, he adds.
Fletcher
Paul Fletcher
Executive director and CEO, Virginia Bar Association
For 33 years, Paul Fletcher covered Virginia’s legal scene as editor and publisher of Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Now he’s leaning into the broad network of connections he built as the new executive director and CEO of the commonwealth’s largest voluntary organization of lawyers, judges, law school faculty and students. Previously active as a Virginia Bar Association volunteer, Fletcher now manages the association’s professional staff. He also served as statewide and national president for the Society of Professional Journalists. “I think having the extensive run with SPJ, both at the state level and national level, has really helped to inform my view of association work,” Fletcher says.
Heytens
Toby J. Heytens
Judge, Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
Richmond
When he was state solicitor general, Toby Heytens helped represent Virginia in the two lawsuits that challenged Gov. Ralph Northam’s order to take down the Robert E. Lee statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue. In the case brought by the original landowners’ descendent, Heytens argued that “no court has ever recognized a personal, inheritable right to dictate the content of … government speech about a matter of racial equality, and this court should not be the first one ever to do so.” He has argued successfully twice before the U.S. Supreme Court and also was a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. On Nov. 1, the Senate confirmed Heytens for a judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
Kirkwood
Amir Kirkwood
President and CEO,
Virginia Community Capital
Arlington
Amir Kirkwood’s career has evolved from his passion for financing community development. Formerly with Opportunity Finance Network, in September he was named president of Virginia Community Capital, a nonprofit community development financial institution and for-profit bank that funds and promotes job creation, affordable housing, food access and health care initiatives in underserved areas of Virginia. “I was most impressed by [VCC’s] commitment to build direct connections with communities,” he says. “It’s a lot different than a larger bank. Here, people get to know their customers, their communities.” In his new role, Kirkwood helps economically excluded communities by expanding on tools such as the innovative Community Investment Guarantee pool, a $33.1 million national pool fund established in 2020 to catalyze community investments in small businesses, climate change mitigation and affordable housing efforts nationwide.
Pocock
Tessa Pocock
Chief science officer,
Soli Organic
Harrisonburg
Tessa Pocock grew up digging up plants and replanting them around her childhood home in Canada. This summer, the Ph.D. expert in plant biology and lighting was hired as chief science officer for indoor agriculture producer Soli Organic (formerly known as Shenandoah Growers). She’s in the process of relocating to Harrisonburg from Laramie, Wyoming, where she grew stalks of corn at 7,200 feet above sea level in Wyoming. “Everybody said, ‘You cannot go grow corn in Laramie,’ and I said, ‘Hmm, I’ll take that on,’” she says. In her 40-year career, Pocock has never used pesticides, which makes her a good fit at Soli Organic, which produces indoor-grown herbs and lettuce. Naturally, once she settles in, she plans on starting a garden.
Roussos
Michael Roussos
President, VCU Medical Center
Richmond
It’s a busy time for Michael Roussos. He and his wife, a trauma surgeon, had their second child in November (the couple also have a 20-month-old), and Roussos is set to start his new job as VCU Medical Center’s president in late December. He previously served as lead administrator at University Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, where he spearheaded the facility’s COVID-19 response and migrated medical records to Epic, an electronic system that VCU is also implementing. At VCU, Roussos plans to emphasize the importance of getting a COVID vaccine, which is now available for everyone ages 5 and older. “We know how fast the delta variant spread through the world, and that could happen again with a new variant,” he warns.
Vincent
Richmond Vincent
CEO, Goodwill Industries of the Valleys
Roanoke
Richmond Vincent sees a more expansive role for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, which aims to empower people and eradicate poverty in the Roanoke, Shenandoah and New River valleys. The organization, which employs more than 1,400 workers across 35 counties and 14 cities, provides services ranging from workforce training programs for teens and adults to employment and support services for people with disabilities. In October, the nonprofit installed one of the region’s largest rooftop solar panel arrays at its Roanoke Jobs Campus headquarters, which will generate about 90% of its power needs. Vincent played football for Arizona State University and worked in banking before starting with Goodwill in 2010, where he served as senior vice president for workforce development in Arizona. He came to Roanoke in March after four years leading a Goodwill branch in southern Mississippi. “I really love Goodwill because of our entrepreneurial spirit.”
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