Associates Matt Kapinos and Derek Swanson were recognized at the 121st Annual Meeting of the Virginia Bar Association in January. Kapinos received the Emerson G. Spies Award, and Swanson was elected to the Young Lawyers Division Executive Committee.
Kapinos was awarded the prestigious Emerson G. Spies Award, which recognizes an individual member of the VBA’s Young Lawyers Division for enthusiasm, loyalty and dedication in the work of the VBA during a given year. He received the honor in connection with his groundbreaking “VBA Veterans Initiative,” which he organized along with fellow award winner Robert Barrett. The VBA Veterans Initiative assists Virginia’s veterans with their legal services needs by: (1) raising money to support the Veterans Benefits Clinic, an existing program at the College of William & Mary Law School that provides legal services to veterans; and (2) recruiting attorney volunteers to serve in the VBA’s Virginia National Guard Project, through which legal assistance is provided to Virginia National Guard personnel returning from service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gov. Bob McDonnell declared November “Virginia Veterans Legal Services Month.”
Swanson was elected to the Young Lawyers Division Executive Committee, a 15-member governing body. He will help manage a variety of the division’s pro bono legal service initiatives and community service projects, and continue serving as co-chair of the statewide Legal Food Frenzy.