McGuireWoods Chairman Jonathan Harmon, partner Richard Cullen and McGuireWoods Consulting senior advisor James Dyke were named to Virginia Business magazine’s inaugural edition of the Virginia 500, a “Power List” featuring the state’s top business leaders in 20 categories.
Harmon and Cullen were selected by the magazine’s editors for leadership in law, while Dyke was named one of the state’s most powerful figures in government, politics and lobbying.
Harmon is a nationally known trial lawyer who represents Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation across the country. He was elected chairman of McGuireWoods in 2017, becoming the first African American to lead the firm. Virginia Business took note of the June 12 op-ed column Harmon wrote for The Wall Street Journal as protests against racial injustice occurred in cities throughout the country. In that piece, Harmon described his own family’s encounter with racism during his teens and the lesson his father taught him about responding to hate.
Cullen, a former U.S. attorney and Virginia attorney general, preceded Harmon as McGuireWoods’ chairman. He is one of the country’s preeminent government investigations and white collar defense lawyers. Virginia Business cited some of Cullen’s most notable matters, including his recent representation of Vice President Mike Pence in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Dyke has been a prominent figure in Virginia politics and government for more than three decades. He served as state education secretary under former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder and was domestic policy advisor for former Vice President Walter Mondale. At McGuireWoods Consulting, his broad practice covers education, corporate, legislative, governmental relations, economic development and municipal law. Dyke also serves on the powerful Virginia Growth and Opportunity (GO Virginia) board, which allocates funds for economic development initiatives across the commonwealth.