Southside law firm merger

The start of the new year arrives with the merger of two Southside Virginia law firms. Effective Jan. 1, Petty, Livingston, Dawson & Richards, P.C., and Southern Virginia Legal PLLC will become PLDR Law. The combined 16-lawyer firm will operate from offices in Lynchburg and Danville.

VBA and former Board of Governors member Scott Kowalski is president of Petty, Livingston. VBA member and past YLD chair Steven Gould is founder of Southern Virginia Legal. Kowalski will serve as the president of the combined regional firm, and Gould will chair its transactional practice and manage the Danville office.

Best Places to Work honoree

Gentry Locke Attorneys is the only Virginia law firm among 28 entities in the inaugural list of best law firms across the nation at which to work. The list comes from the Business of Law Digest in conjunction with Best Companies Group.

Benchmarks reviewed included the presence of formal programs for actively recruiting a diverse workforce, older employees and members of the military; long-tenured senior management; bonuses for employee referrals; telecommuting options; family-friendly benefits; a focus on work/life balance; and tuition assistance programs.

Winning firms received high marks for confidence in leadership, strong communication, corporate culture, ongoing training options, fair pay and benefits, and overall satisfaction, among other criteria.

More than 60 Gentry Locke attorneys are VBA members.

Member News

Gubernatorial appointments

• VBA Board of Governors member Nupur S. Bal with Bowen Ten Long & Bal, PC, in Richmond was named to the Child Support Guidelines Review Panel.
• Member Carson Cox of Richmond, an associate attorney with Troutman Pepper, was named to the Virginia LGBTQ+ Advisory Board.

More member news

Maxwell H. Wiegard, chair of the VBA Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Law Section, recently joined the Richmond office of Miles & Stockbridge P.C. as a principal on its real estate and transactional finance team. He previously chaired Gentry Locke's environmental law practice group. Wiegard also is a past chair of the VBA Real Estate Section.

VBA member Don Scott, a partner with Breit Biniazan, has been appointed by the House Democratic caucus to be speaker of the House of Delegates. The speaker-designate will be the first Black speaker in Virginia in the legislature's 404-year history, according to Cardinal News. He represents Virginia's 80th District in Portsmouth and previously served as House Minority leader.

Monica T. Monday, head of Gentry Locke’s appeals and critical issues team, has received the 2023 Edmund Randolph Award for Excellence in Oral Advocacy from the William & Mary Law School’s Student Division of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law.

The annual award, dubbed the "Silver Tongue Award," is presented to an appellate advocate who has not only demonstrated excellence in his or her craft, but who has dedicated his or her career to improving the standards of appellate practice, the administration of justice and ethics in the profession. Monday received the award this fall in conjunction with the final round of the law school’s Bushrod Moot Court Tournament, over which she presided as chief justice as part of her recognition.

Monday is an alumna of the William & Mary Law School, as well as the College of William & Mary, and was a participant in the final round of the moot court competition in 1989.

She became a VBA member in 1994, is immediate past chair of the VBA Appellate Practice Section and presently heads up the VBA Committee on Federal Judgeships Western District. She earned Young Lawyers Division honors in 2002 for outstanding work and long-term service.