Victor O. Cardwell took the oath of office and became VBA president on Jan. 21 at the Annual Business Meeting during the 132nd Annual Meeting.

A video of the installation and his remarks appears at the bottom of this page.

These are his prepared remarks:

I am humbled by this honor. I could take days thanking so many of you who have made this moment possible; my family, my siblings and their families and all of my friends who have supported me through too many long days and nights to mention.

I must thank everyone at Woods Rogers for their support – with special mention to the Labor and Employment Group, all of whom have stepped in to make this possible. This is not a surprise to me as my firm and the VBA have a long and storied history together. There have been many who have served the VBA and I will now become the seventh lawyer to serve in this role from WR. I am humbled.

The Virginia Bar Association has a 134-year history of working to:

• Improve the Law
• Increase the Professionalism of all lawyers
• Make communities better with access to justice – this includes a fully funded and supported judiciary
• And increase the Collegiality of the Profession.

Each and every one of these goals remain as the central focus of the VBA and I hope to use my year promoting the same.

It is also not lost on me that as the VBA ventures into its 134th year, I will now become the first Black attorney to have this honor. Make no mistake, I know how many great lawyers, Black and otherwise, have deserved this honor in the past and my goal is to make sure that more diverse attorneys become involved in the VBA and take advantage of the benefits as have I. I am a better lawyer because of my association with the VBA. This group is awesome, and everyone needs to know it. The best VBA is an inclusive VBA. I want to be sure that during my tenure, I do everything possible to ensure every lawyer in the Commonwealth feels welcome and knows that the VBA is accessible.

This is more critical now than ever and I want to call out a few of our efforts for 2022:

First, President Ottinger created the VBA’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion special committee. He has allowed me to staff this group. I am excited about the opportunity.

I want each lawyer in Virginia – regardless of race, gender identity or orientation, socio-economic status, geographic location or any other factor – to consider the VBA as a home for them.

Second, Virginia is fortunate to have many great voluntary bar associations - the VTLA, VADA, the ODBA, the Hill-Tucker Bar Association, the VWAA to name a few – but I hope that each of those groups will consider how the VBA can enhance their members professional lives. The law and how we practice has been changing for years but now in the wake of COVID we all must consider how we make this profession work for everyone. I stand ready to assist in that effort.

Third, many of our young practitioners have come into the profession to become great lawyers by getting experience, training and camaraderie while working alongside other lawyers – COVID has taken many of those opportunities away. Regardless of the size of your firm – I would like to challenge firm leadership to consider the VBA as the perfect place to continue the mentoring of your lawyers. I want to work very closely with our Young Lawyer’s Division to spread the message of accessibility to all lawyers in Virginia.

It is also my goal to continue President Ottinger’s drive for membership, but I want to expand that message so that all lawyers in the Commonwealth see that the VBA is the place for you to learn and share time with the very best lawyers in the state. The Best and Brightest are members of the VBA and are active throughout its substantive sections. As evidenced by the CLEs presented over the last two days – these are the people you want your lawyers to interact with and learn from.

Let me close by thanking you all for being here and sharing in this honor with me. This is truly a team effort and my goals for the year anticipate everyone pitching in and helping to open the doors of the VBA and showcasing the great opportunities the VBA provides to ALL lawyers in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Thank you!