Virginia Lawyers Weekly VA Lawyers Weekly
Business/Employer:
Hall & Hall, PLC
1401 Huguenot Road
Midlothian, Virginia 23113
Phone:
(804)897-1515
E-Mail:
Education:
Georgetown Law School, JD 1969
University of Delaware, BA 1963
Professional/business/civic/nonprofit organizations in which you are/have been involved and positions held:
I have participated in many interesting professional and civic endeavors, including:
Member, Board of Trustees, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Board of Directors, Family & Children’s Services
President, MCVIVCUWomen’s Health Advisory Council
President, Soroptomist Club
Commissioner, Human Relations Commission
Seminar Speaker for National Business Institute and various Bar Associations
Service in Bar Associations and business groups including:
American Bar Association
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys
Metropolitan Richmond Family Law Bar Association
Richmond, Chesterfield, & Henrico Bar Associations
Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association (Co-founder)
Virginia Trial Lawyer Association
ElderCounsel, LLC
Richmond Senior Network, Inc.
I have been honored to receive some special awards including:
Outstanding Citizenship Award, Urban League Guild, 1983
Annual Women of Achievement Award, Metropolitan Women’s Bar Association, 2006
Who were the important mentors you have had and how did they impact your career?
Good mentors challenge, inspire, and motivate, exhibiting personal attributes and values you
want to follow. Exceptional people have guided, taught, and supported me. From the day I met
him, Frank Hall encouraged me to set my sights higher than I ever would have on my own. Dr.
Edward Latch, Chaplain, U.S. House of Representatives, married us and taught us to make sure
to give back more than we receive. Starting in law practice, Jim Roberts of Troutman Sanders
-who would be astonished to know this …. was my role model. When faced in my law practice
with difficult situations, I would ask myself (and still do), “how would Jim Roberts handle this
with kindness, strength, and dignity?”
What do you consider your biggest accomplishment and why?
First and foremost, I am proud ofraising two children to be kind, caring, and talented adults.
Professionally, I have been able to create a family law finn with a dedicated team making a
difference in the lives of men and women. We find solutions for people going through difficult
times and assist seniors and their families with asset protection and life care planning. Elder law
is an interesting new area of critical importance as our country’s population ages.
What advice would you give to a young person graduating from college this spring?
Do what you love to do, work hard, find a good mentor who will make you stretch; seek to give
more than you get back; travel abroad while you are young and gain a new perspective on the
world.
How do you achieve a balance between your professional life and your personal life?
When you have your own firm, it encompasses your life, giving you greater responsibilities but
more flexibility. At our firm, we commit to working hard, taking care of each other, having fun,
giving good service, and going home satisfied at the end of the day. When your life also is filled,
as mine is, with a husband, two children, two wonderful granddaughters who come for the
summer, a garden to tend, and a beach house and travels to enjoy, you have the best of all
worlds.
When you were growing up, what did you want to be?
Growing up in wonderful family, I read of women who not only cared for their families and
helped others but also changed their worlds. I didn’t know how I would do it, but I knew I
wanted to learn to make a difference in the lives of others. I never dreamed I would be among
the first woman litigators in Richmond,.would co-found and manage a successful law finn,
become a judge, help co-found a bank, and develop a workplace where women were not just
someone else’s assistant but fully utilized their own talents. I have been truly blessed, and
mentoring others is now my greatest joy.
What is your favorite book or movie and why?
My favorite book is a collection of poems by Robert Frost. I especially love “The Road Not
Taken.”
What are two things about you that most people may not know?
I love chocolate and I love champagne, and that is why the women at my firm started an annual
event at my home, Women, Wine, Champagne, and Chocolates, where women of
accomplishment gather once a year for an evening of fun.
