Steven D. "Steve" Williams

“…You can’t get good settlements unless you have good trial results” Working with a Federal Court Judge in New Orleans while he was in college fueled Jeffrey Breit's interest in the law. A native of the Tidewater area, his father, brothers and even his wife have all been attorneys at one time or another. In 1988, he left the firm where his father had practiced and together with Jack Drescher started Breit, Drescher & Imprevento specializing in representing injured...

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...

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...

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...

Richard N. (Rick) Shapiro has practiced as a Virginia Beach personal injury lawyer for over three decades in Virginia, North Carolina, and throughout the Southeastern United States. A relentless personal injury trial attorney, he was named a 2022 Leader in the Law by Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly. American inventor & product designer (18 U.S. patents, Radio Flyer patent license). Amazon #1 best-selling thriller author. During his three-decade career, Shapiro has won client appeals before...

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...

Carlton Bennett is recognized as an expert in traumatic brain damage litigation, nursing home malpractice and wrongful death caes. Mr. bennett was co-counsel in the largest mild-traumatic brain injury jury verdict, $10.2 million, ever awarded in Norfolk Circuit Court. He specializes in mild brain damage cases, but also handles moderate and severe cases. He has obtained numerous multi-million dollar jury verdicts and settlements for traumatic brain injury survivors, and other cases involving s...

C. Arthur "Brother" Rutter III is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Admiralty and Maritime Law and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Brother, who practices law in Norfolk, Virginia, has been recognized since 2016. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Brother is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area. A second-generation lawyer, Brother Rutter made a name fo...

Allison received her Juris Doctor in 2001 from Loyola University School of Law at New Orleans. After law school, Allison returned to Virginia and clerked for an Administrative Law Judge with the Department of Labor in Washington, DC for one year. Thereafter, she worked as an associate at McKenry, Dancingers, Dawson & Lake from 2003 to 2006, as an associate and partner at Kaufman and Canoles from 2006 to 2015, and as a partner at Parks Zeigler from 2015 to 2022. Allison’s has exclusi...