McGuireWoods had 55 lawyers selected by their professional peers for inclusion in Virginia Business magazine’s 2024 Legal Elite, published in the December 2024 issue. The firm’s lawyers were honored in 17 Legal Elite categories.
Charlottesville partner Jonathan Blank was profiled as a top lawyer in the business law category. In a Q&A with the magazine, Blank discussed emerging trends in business law, including how artificial intelligence tools “will find their way into every part of American jurisprudence.”
“In the near term, substantive cases related to AI tools will continue to surface in labor and employment, intellectual property and business competition/trade secret cases,” said Blank, a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. “We will also see AI tools in tort and contract cases as well. From research to jury consulting to trial tactics, AI will influence every part of civil litigation.”
Blank also singled out two important career mentors – his father Irving Blank, past Virginia State Bar president and past Virginia Law Foundation president; and former McGuireWoods chairman Richard Cullen.
“Richard taught me the value of relationships, as well as if there is a problem to be solved, do not wait for others to solve it,” Blank said.
McGuireWoods’ Virginia Legal Elite honorees include the following.
- Theodore F. Adams III, Richmond, administrative/government/legislative
- John D. Adams, Richmond, criminal law
- Erin B. Ashwell, Richmond, appellate law
- Craig D. Bell, Richmond, taxes/estates/trusts
- Jonathan T. Blank, Charlottesville, business law
- Candace Ali Blydenburgh, Richmond, civil litigation
- Sarah B. Boehm, Richmond, bankruptcy/creditors’ rights law
- Alexander E. Castellano, real estate/land use
- Michael S. Dingman, Tysons, construction law
- David E. Finkelson, Richmond, intellectual property law
- Matthew A. Fitzgerald, Richmond, appellate law
- Bryan A. Fratkin, Richmond, civil litigation
- Ryan D. Frei, Richmond, civil litigation
- Brian L. Hager, Richmond, business law
- Kristen Frances Hager, Richmond, taxes/estates/trusts
- Dion W. Hayes, Richmond, bankruptcy/creditors’ rights law
- Kang He, Tysons, real estate/land use
- Michael N. Herring, Richmond, criminal law
- Richard Dean Holzheimer Jr., Tysons, civil litigation
- Meghan Gehr Hubbard, Richmond, taxes/estates/trusts
- D. Brennen Keene, Richmond, real estate/land use
- Samuel Kettering, Richmond, construction law
- C. Andrew Konia, Tysons, cybersecurity/data privacy/technology
- Clare M. Lewis, Charlottesville, corporate counsel
- Vishwa B. Link, Richmond, administrative/government/legislative
- Robert W. Loftin, Richmond, appellate law
- John H. Maddock III, Richmond, bankruptcy/creditors’ rights law
- Courtney M. Malveaux, Richmond, labor/employment law
- Laura Colombell Marshall, Richmond, criminal law
- George Keith Martin, Richmond, construction law
- Robert W. McFarland, Norfolk, civil litigation
- Christopher M. Michalik, Richmond, labor/employment law
- Steven M. Mikulic, Tysons, real estate/land use
- Christopher R. Nolen, Richmond, administrative/government/legislative
- Alicia M. Penn-Taylor, Richmond, young lawyer
- Janet P. Peyton, Richmond, intellectual property law
- S. Virginia Bondurant Price, Richmond, appellate law
- Elizabeth P. Redpath, Richmond, labor/employment law
- Gregory A. Riegle, Tysons, real estate/land use
- Brian C. Riopelle, Richmond, intellectual property law
- Dana Rust, Richmond, labor/employment law
- William I. Sanderson, Charlottesville, taxes/estates/trusts
- Brandon M. Santos, Richmond, criminal law
- Brian D. Schmalzbach, Richmond, appellate law
- Thomas J. Stallings, Richmond, health law
- Heather Nixon Stevenson, Richmond, environmental law
- Jacquelyn E. Stone, Richmond, immigration law
- Mary Thexton, Richmond, corporate counsel
- John E. Thomas, Tysons, labor/employment law
- Evan X. Tucker, Richmond, young lawyer
- Robin Cooke Vance, Richmond, intellectual property law
- Scott L. Weber, Richmond, real estate/land use
- Lucy Jewett Wheatley , Richmond, intellectual property law
- Michael B. Woodard, Richmond, corporate counsel
- Gino Zaccardelli, Tysons, taxes/estates/trusts
Virginia Business publishes the Legal Elite annually in collaboration with the Virginia Bar Association. Lawyers across the state are asked to select the top attorneys across 22 practice categories.