Roanoke-based lawyer, others take leadership roles

The Virginia Bar Association installed Victor O. Cardwell as its 2022 president Friday, Jan. 21, during its virtual Annual Meeting. He is co-chair of Woods Rogers PLC’s labor and employment practice team as well as chairman of the firm’s board of directors. He is based in Roanoke, Virginia, and is the seventh Woods Rogers attorney to serve as president of the VBA, the largest statewide voluntary bar in Virginia.

Cardwell, the first Black president of the membership organization for lawyers and judges formed in 1888, succeeds Richard H. Ottinger, a partner at Vandeventer Black LLP in Norfolk, Virginia. Ottinger became the immediate past president of the VBA.

Cardwell’s sister, retired Philadelphia trial judge Renée Cardwell Hughes, administered the oath of office.

“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,” the VBA’s 134th president told members and guests in a Zoom call after two days of educational programming for lawyers. “I am a better lawyer because of my association with the VBA. 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.”

Toward that end, Cardwell will appoint members to a new committee of the VBA, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which Ottinger established in 2021.

Cardwell also pointed out that COVID-19 has limited opportunities for hands-on mentoring of young attorneys and that the VBA can assist firms in the development of talent with training and camaraderie.

Ottinger, in his farewell comments, also mentioned COVID-19, and how it has forced lawyers and judges to adapt, “and that is what the VBA has continued to work hard to do during the past year.” He announced the launch of an expanded resource for all Virginia lawyers, with additional value for VBA members, called the VBA Practice Management Advisor. The full rollout of the program will occur in February on the VBA website, in monthly phone calls and a monthly e-newsletter.

Other 2022 officers

In addition to Cardwell and Ottinger, two other members begin one-year terms as VBA officers. Elected to leadership roles were:

• Benjamin D. Leigh with Atwill, Troxell & Leigh, P.C., in Leesburg as president-elect, and
• W. Ryan Snow with Crenshaw, Ware & Martin, P.L.C., in Norfolk as chair of the Board of Governors.

These officers and the leaders of the Young Lawyers Division, or YLD, make up the voting members of the VBA Executive Committee. The YLD is a group of about 1,200 attorney members age 40 or younger or otherwise new to legal practice. The YLD members elected a new chair for a one-year term. She is:

• Kristen R. Jurjevich, a shareholder with Pender & Coward, PC, in Virginia Beach.

In addition, the chair-elect of the Young Lawyers Division serves on the board. The YLD elected as chair-elect:

• R. Patrick Bolling, a principal on Woods Rogers PLC’s labor and employment team. Last year, he served the YLD as secretary/treasurer. He lives in Lynchburg.

For details about these individuals and new Board of Governors members, please see the 2022 VBA Leadership Slate.

New Board of Governors members

VBA members also elected four Board of Governors representatives to three-year terms. The board, with at-large and regional representatives, manages the business of the association. They are:

• Steven D. Brown, representing the Capitol region. He is a partner with IslerDare PC in the Richmond office and focuses his practice on labor, employment and business issues with private and public employers,
• Lonnie D. “Chip” Nunley III, serving at-large. He is a partner with Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP in its Richmond office, where he has practiced for 35 years,
• William E. Phillips, representing the Southside Region. He is a partner with Caskie & Frost, P.C., in Lynchburg. His extensive practice in civil litigation has an emphasis on personal injury defense work and commercial litigation, and
• Donna M. Rostant, serving at-large. She is an attorney with Jones & Rostant PC in Fairfax with 25-plus years of legal expertise and a background of teaching nursing and as a nurse practitioner.

The Board of Governors also appointed two new representatives to advise it on legislative and law school matters. Starting a one-year term that can be extended for up to three years are:

• Del. Jeffrey Bourne, who has represented Virginia’s 71st District in the House of Delegates since 2018. He formerly was a deputy attorney general in Virginia and led government relations at the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and
• B. Keith Faulkner, who has served as dean of the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy since July. He is a former dean at Liberty University School of Law, among other academic and private practice roles.

Finally, the VBA has named a new volunteer general counsel, who is an ex officio member of the Board of Governors. He is:

• Ryan W. Boggs, director of ethics and compliance at Dominion Energy in Richmond. Boggs just completed a three-year term as Capitol representative on the board.

Board of Governors continuing representatives

Nine other attorneys will continue their roles on the VBA Board of Governors. They are:

• Carla D. Brown, Potomac representative (Charlson Bredehoft Cohen & Brown, P.C. Reston),
• L. Steven Emmert, At-Large representative (Sykes, Bourdon, Ahern & Levy, P.C., Virginia Beach),
• Rosalie P. Fessier, Blue Ridge representative (TimberlakeSmith, Staunton),
• Timothy W. Gresham, Southwest representative (PennStuart, Abingdon),
• Charles E. “Chuck” James Jr., At-Large representative (Williams Mullen, Richmond),
• The Hon. Daniel E. Ortiz, Judicial representative (Court of Appeals of Virginia, Fairfax),
• Kimberlee Harris Ramsey, At-Large representative (FloranceGordonBrown, PC, Richmond),
• Cliona Mary Robb, Chair of the Law Practice Management Division (ThompsonMcMullan PC, Richmond), and
• Robert E. Scully Jr., At-Large representative (Blankingship & Keith, PC, Fairfax).