Best Lawyers® - Purely Peer Review™
by Their Peers
"Lawyer of the Year" Honorees {{Geolocation}}
Ann H. Larkin is a Shareholder at Midgett Preti Olansen. She focuses her practice on estate planning, estate and trust administration, special needs planning and guardianship and conservatorship matters. Ms. Larkin is certified by the Virginia Supreme Court as a guardian ad litem for incapacitated adults. Ms. Larkin has extensive experience designing estate plans ranging from basic to complex. She works closely with individuals to ensure that they and their loved ones are cared for properly a...
After graduating from Penn State and receiving her law degree, with honors, from George Mason University School of Law, Karin Riley Porter has had years of experience in the law in a wide range of cases, including DUIs and violent felonies. Before launching Karin Riley Porter Attorney at Law, Ms. Porter served as prosecutor, ultimately providing her with a different perspective of the legal system which she can use when building a defense. Ms. Porter’s extensive knowledge and training i...
Brian R. Sanderson is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Health Care, Medical Malpractice Law - Defendants and Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants. Brian R., who practices law in Fairfax, Virginia, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Brian R. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
John E. Lichtenstein is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Medical Malpractice Law - Plaintiffs and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. John E., who practices law in Roanoke, Virginia, has been recognized since 2006. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which John E. is held by other top lawyers in the sa...
For over two decades, I have represented clients in Northern Virginia who need family law assistance. My goal is to provide vigorous, honest, and thorough representation.I started this firm with my founding partners in November 2004, and have worked towards becoming the best family law partnership in Virginia. Since 2004 we have grown to a firm of nine attorneys from various backgrounds. We are a full-service team ready to handle virtually any Virginia family law issue.I pride myself on being...
Scott C. Oostdyk is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Environmental Law, Insurance Law, Litigation - Environmental and Product Liability Litigation - Defendants. Scott C., who practices law in Richmond, Virginia, has been recognized since 2009. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Scott C. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and le...
Derrick Walker is a nationally recognized trial lawyer with a reputation as a courtroom powerhouse. Over the span of his 25-year career Derrick has achieved outstanding results for his clients in a wide array of personal injury matters, including multi-million dollar awards in cases involving wrongful death, tractor-trailer collisions, traumatic brain injuries, nursing homes, and medical malpractice. Driven by an unwavering commitment to leveling the legal playing field for the injured, Derri...
Stephanie E. Grana, partner of the personal injury law firm of Cantor Grana Buckner Bucci, has been fighting for individuals and families for over 30 years. Stephanie has a proven track record of securing fair compensation on behalf of the injured and has obtained more than 85 verdicts and settlements of over $1 million. Her professional integrity and ability to secure results for her clients has earned her an AV® Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®, a leading lawyer rating directory. She...
Vanessa Macias Stillman serves as guardian ad litem for incapacitated adults and has experience litigating in several areas of fiduciary law, including contested guardianship and conservatorship actions, will contests, partitions of property, suits for breach of fiduciary duty, and a variety of complex trust and estate matters. Ms. Stillman graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a B.A. in Political Science and Spanish. She earned her law degree from Syracuse University College of Law...
David is a principal in the law firm of Blankingship & Keith, P.C. in the City of Fairfax. He is a civil litigator with over 30 years of trial practice, primarily before the various Virginia Circuits Courts in Northern Virginia as well as the Federal Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia. He also has substantial appellate experience arguing before the Supreme Court of Virginia and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. His practice has concentrated on commercial ...
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Brian P. Casson is the founder and Managing Partner of the Northern Virginia Immigration Law Firm, PLLC in Falls Church, VA. Mr. Casson's fearless advocacy and legal acumen have earned him the respect of clients and colleagues alike. He is recognized as a leading immigration attorney in the DC Metropolitan Area and has been both appointed and elected to serve in leadership roles in the American Immigration Lawyer's Association (AILA) from 2017 to present. The Northern Virginia Immigration Law...
John Erbach represents a wide variety of business entities and individuals in complex business and commercial litigation, including intellectual property litigation, employment disputes, defense of consumer protection claims, and other complex commercial litigation. As an additional part of his practice, John regularly serves as outside general counsel to small and medium-sized businesses, counseling on employment compliance matters, employment policies, employee handbooks, dispute resolution...
Alan Albert is a nationally-honored trial lawyer who has represented clients from Muhammad Ali to multinational corporations in a broad array of commercial disputes, white-collar criminal investigations and prosecutions, intellectual property litigation and other governmental and regulatory matters. Mr. Albert has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America continuously for the past 20 years, and is one of a small number of lawyers in the country to be recognized by Best Lawyers in six dis...
Alison Zizzo is a Shareholder at Midgett Preti Olansen and concentrates her practice in trust and estate litigation, including fiduciary disputes, beneficiary representation, guardian and conservatorships, and elder law. Ms. Zizzo has extensive civil litigation experience and can handle a variety of general litigation matters, including business disputes, collection and defense of debts and contract disputes. In addition, Ms. Zizzo handles complex trust and estate administration matters, assi...
Ian A. Herbert focuses his practice on all areas of employee benefits law. He has counseled clients on all aspects of the establishment and administration of pension and profit sharing plans, ESOPs, non-qualified deferred and executive compensation programs, equity and similar compensation plans, welfare benefit plans, cafeteria plans and VEBAs. In addition, he has wide-ranging experience in performing compliance reviews of qualified plan operations and assisting clients in correcting qualifi...
Garen Dodge, a principal in the Washington, D.C. region office, has spent his career working side by side with clients looking to tackle the thorniest of labor and employment issues with creative solutions. He has successfully defended employers, including Fortune 500 companies in a broad range of industries, including restaurants and retail, in matters involving privacy, discrimination, background checks, harassment, wage and hour, and occupational safety and health. His Washington, D.C. exp...
Mary Pivec, based in Woodbridge, Virginia, brings over 45 years of experience as a dedicated management-side immigration and employment attorney at Pivec & Associates PLLC. Mary's immigration law practice is centered on the vital connection between immigration enforcement and labor protections. She represents employers in various cases, including worksite enforcement, I-9 compliance, and investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division. Her work encompasses civil an...
Sean P. Schmergel has been consistently recognized as one the DMVs top divorce and family law attorneys, including by Washingtonian Magazine, Arlington Magazine, Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers. He began practicing divorce and family law over 22 years ago and has continued to hone his legal practice before the local courts, developing a reputation as a zealous and thoughtful family law advocate. A resident of Northern Virginia for over 36 years, Mr. Schmergel holds a genuine concern for the le...
Minturn Wright is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Real Estate Law. Minturn, who practices law in Alexandria, Virginia, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Minturn is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
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