Virginia Lawyers Weekly named McGuireWoods partner and ethics counsel Thomas E. Spahn to its inaugural Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame class recognizing lawyers who have made significant contributions to the legal profession in the state. Spahn was profiled in a special Virginia Lawyers Weekly supplement published June 15.
A commercial litigator based in the firm’s Tysons, Virginia, office, Spahn is an authoritative voice who uses innovative approaches to make his reviews of ethics and attorney-client privilege case law accessible.
Spahn is a frequent writer on defamation and ethics issues facing in-house lawyers and he has spoken at more than 1,700 CLE programs in the United States and abroad. He wrote “The Attorney-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine: A Practitioner’s Guide,” the proceeds of which are donated to the Virginia Law Foundation to support continuing legal education and pro bono work. Spahn also created McGuireWoods’ Attorney-Client Privilege/Work Product Case Summary Database, a repository of more than 5,000 case summaries, with more added each month.
He has served on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility and on numerous Virginia State Bar and Virginia Bar Association committees. As chair of the VBA’s Commission on Professionalism, Spahn was the primary drafter of the “Principles of Professionalism.”
“I am proud to be included among the exceptional lawyers selected for Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s first Hall of Fame class,” Spahn said. “I am especially grateful to my McGuireWoods colleagues for their friendship and support throughout my career.”