Deborah C. Waters

Ryan is the 2024 President of the Virginia Bar Association. He handles high-stakes litigation with a focus on complex business disputes, construction law, and maritime law. He also serves as local counsel in the Eastern District of Virginia in patent and other cases. He was managing partner from 2012 to 2020. Ryan’s experience includes state and federal jury trials, mediations, panel arbitrations, and appeals. His cases involve business conspiracies, technology disputes, government cont...

Willard J. Moody, Jr. is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Plaintiffs, Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs and Railroad Law. Willard J., who practices law in Portsmouth, Virginia, has been recognized since 2015. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Willard J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

A Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and the International Academy of Family Lawyers, Mr. Garriott represents clients in divorce, property settlement agreements, child custody and pre-marital agreements. He also handles a variety of civil litigation including personal injury, employment, workers' compensation, and contract matters. Mr. Garriott was selected for the 2009 Class of Leaders in the Law by Virginia Lawyers Weekly and holds Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating of A...

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...

Ashley E. Nimitz is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Ashley E., who practices law in Virginia Beach, Virginia, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Ashley E. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

John M. Cooper is one of the founding partners at Cooper Hurley Injury Lawyers and a veteran of Virginia personal injury law practice. A native of Hampton Roads, Virginia, he was raised in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1988, John returned home to work as a law clerk for a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division. John has a passion for justice and has been blessed to have a l...

Todd J. Preti is a Founding Shareholder in the Law Firm of Midgett Preti Olansen. Mr. Preti is a graduate of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. While at the T.C. Williams School of Law, Mr. Preti was a merit scholar and was named to the University of Richmond Law Review and the Moot Court Board. Mr. Preti practices in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, f...

Steven L. Brinker is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships). Steven L., who practices law in Norfolk, Virginia, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Steven L. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Jim is Chairman of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. His primary practice areas include admiralty, business, cybersecurity, data privacy, railroad/transit, and unmanned systems. Jim has tried over 100 cases to jury verdicts for clients involving a broad range of legal disputes. Jim advises governing boards and senior leadership regarding risks and resolution strategies in high-profile cases. His service as general counsel to companies, and as a director and officer of several non-pr...

Debbie has over 37 years experience handling all aspects of family law. Her practice areas include Contested and Uncontested Divorces, Spousal Support, Child Custody, Visitation and Support, Separation Agreements, Equitable Distribution of Property, Division of Retirement, Pensions and Profit Sharing Plans, Business Valuation and Division, Post-Divorce Issues, Pre-marital Agreements and Marital Agreements. She practices in the Circuit Courts and the J & DR courts throughout Hampton Roads....