(tm)
(tm)
Voice: (540) 347-2430; Fax: (540) 347-9772;
Independent attorneys in private practice provide a strong legal defense in civil and criminal cases, arbitration, mediation, litigation, and trials.
If you or your business is being attacked in a legal process, whether by a criminal complaint, through arbitration, or by the filing of a lawsuit, Virginia Legal Defense can help.
If you or someone for whom you are responsible has been accused of wrongdoing (even where an insurance company will provide a defense) you will need an attorney to represent your interests. That is especially true if there is a potential threat of prosecution for violations of law.
If police or prosecutors are involved, you need an attorney!
Admitted to practice before The Virginia Supreme Court and all other Virginia state courts, the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts of the Eastern District of Virginia.
Practicing law principally in the areas of defensive litigation and trials in civil and criminal cases; special interest in intentional torts and in particular issues relating to accusations of business related wrongdoing other than discrimination in employment; also interested in serious criminal allegations and civil and criminal matters relating to the ownership, possession, and use of firearms and weapons, and matters relating to data communications and computer technology. The practice generally excludes representation of banks, insurance companies, large employers, or petrochemical, coal, oil, or gas companies except defensively in matters of contract claims and business torts; also excluding tax law, most domestic relations matters and represention of people injured through the negligence of others or for whom entitlement programs exist to compensate them for medical difficulties. Referrals to other attorneys may be available.
Member of
- The Virginia State Bar,
- The Fauquier County Bar Association,
- The Virginia Trial Lawyers' Association,
- The Virginia Citizen's Defense League,
- Armed Citizens' Legal Defense Network
- The National Rifle Association, and
- Numerous online bulletin board systems, gun-forum websites, and blogs as "user".
Approach to practice:
"I like trials, and I like juries. I like having clients who understand that they are wrongly accused, who want to go to trial to demonstrate that there is no valid case against them, who want to win at trial, and who are willing to do what it takes to get there. I do not prefer settlements and plea-bargains as a personal matter, yet there is a real need for simple damage control in some cases. No matter what kind of case it is or what kind of resolution is required, we work to earn our pay and our client's trust."
Too often, people accused of wrongdoing believe they are guilty because they feel guilty, without considering that the law punishes crimes, not sins. Such people have already lost, because they have given up in their own minds. But, however a person feels about what may have happened, there is a big difference between bad feelings and civil or criminal responsibility. What's needed is a clear, logical, and rational approach to the specific charges formally made. The only question that will be before the court will be whether the defendant is responsible for the specific charges stated in the complaint. Even if a person has committed wrongful acts in his own mind doesn't mean that he has to subject himself to unwarranted punishment at the hands of the State.
I like juries and I like to be able to have my clients testify in their own interest. Juries are made up of humans, and have all the faults of humans, but one thing they almost always have that I've found to be in my clients' favor is a good "hogwash-detector"; there will almost always be people on any jury who can tell whose case is full of it, and I like to be able to put my clients on the witness stand to make it clear where the hogwash is in the case.
NRA certified instructor in: - pistol, rifle, home defense, and personal protection.
Fret not over evildoers, envy not the lawless; soon like the grass they fade, and wither like a green blade. Trust in the Eternal and do right; be loyal to Him within his land; make the Eternal your delight, and he will give you all your heart's desires. Leave all to Him, rely on Him, and He will see to it. He will bring your innocence to light, and make the justice of your cause clear as the noonday. -- Ps. 37:5-6 (Moffatt, trans.).
Click on the mailbox to send
EMail to Virginia Legal Defense
Notes on the obligation to identify one's self to law enforcement officers in Virginia
Case notes: the Castle Doctrine in Virginia
Handout from recent "Deadly Force Seminar (tm)"
Meaning of the word, "secured" as used in the concealed weapon statute
This website is designed to be simple and easily readable by everyone, and to minimize the use of information that cannot be downloaded and easily processed by any computer, regardless of any disabilities the person using it may have. Please let us know how we can do better with that.
NRA and VCDL logos are used to show affiliation only and are the property of the National Rifle Association and the Virginia Civil Defense League, respectively.
The opinions of the authors expressed herein are general observations and mere opinion, and are not statements of fact or legal advice. Persons seeking legal advice are strongly urged to consult an attorney licensed to practice law in their own location. Virginia Legal Defense has no way to know where potential viewers of this web site reside or do business, and thus cannot advise those persons as to the state of the law applicable there. The trade name and service mark, "Virginia Legal Defense", and the copyrighted material displayed in this website are proprietary; © all rights reserved 1989-2010. Nothing contained herein or accessible herefrom constitutes an offer on the part of Virginia Legal Defense to enter into any kind of contract. Rev. 971021; 060711; 070523; 070605; 070828; 070910; 101029.