VSB Awards from the 2019 Annual Meeting

Editor’s note: At the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar, held June 13-15 at Virginia Beach, eight individuals received awards from sections and conferences.

Nelson receives ‘Tradition of Excellence’ Award

Lynchburg lawyer John Randolph “Randy” Nelson received the “Tradition of Excellence Award,
given by the VSB’s General Practice Section.

The award recognizes a Virginia lawyer who “embodies the highest tradition of personal and professional excellence in Virginia, enhances the image and esteem of attorneys in the commonwealth, and has devoted significant amounts of time, efforts, and/or funds to activities that benefit their community.”

David Neumeyer, executive director of the Virginia Legal Aid Society, nominated Nelson, stating that he “truly embodies the award’s promotion of personal and professional excellence.”

According to Debby Hudgins, VLAS pro bono coordinator, Nelson was one of the original lawyers to volunteer when the VLAS was founded in 1991, and he has closed over 30 cases for them.

In addition to his solo law practice in Lynchburg Nelson has donated his time to the Lynchburg Lifesaving Crew, the Lynchburg Historical Foundation, Interfaith Outreach and the Lynchburg Community Loan Fund.

He held leadership roles at the Virginia State Bar, the Lynchburg Bar Association and the Lynchburg City Council.

For 28 years, Nelson served as a special justice in the 24^th Judicial Circuit. A graduate of Randolph Macon College and the University of Richmond law school, he was a police officer in Virginia Beach as part of the Law Student-Police Program.

Vasquez tapped as VSB’s ‘Young Lawyer of the Year’

The VSB Young Lawyers Conference has named Nicolle Vasquez Del Favero as the R. Edwin Burnette Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year for 2019.

The honor recognizes young lawyers who demonstrate service to the conference, the legal profession and the community. It’s named for Ed Burnette, a former YLC chair and VSB president who has served as a judge in Lynchburg.

Vasquez is an assistant attorney with Military Sealift Command under the Office of General Counsel for the Department of the Navy. She is an active member of the Military Spouse Juris Doctor Network. She has assisted surviving spouses of service members by providing legal referrals to attorneys based on their personal needs.

“While most attorneys in the legal profession treat pro bono as just an aspirational goal, Nicolle actively works toward this goal,” said Milena Radovic, who nominated Vasquez.

Vasquez is a member of the VSB Young Leaders Conference, where she serves as the committee co-chair of the Wills for Heroes program, in which attorneys provide basic estate planning documents at no cost to first responders and their spouses.

Within the Hampton Roads community, the Urban Renewal Center of Norfolk awarded Vasquez the “Lead Like King Award” as one of four community members who demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities reflective of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Anderson is ‘Local Bar Leader of the Year’

Alexandria lawyer Barbara S. Anderson was named the “Local Bar Leader of the Year” for 2019 by the VSB’s Conference of Local and Specialty Bar Associations.

The award honors a bar leader who “offers important service to the bench, bar, and public.”

Alexandria Bar Association President G. Christopher Wright wrote in his nomination that Anderson, a principal of the Life & Estate Planning Law Center,  has been a member of the Alexandria bar since 1984 served on its board from 2004 to 2012 and as president from 2010 to 2011.

“Barbara is a leader, mentor, and role model. Her dedication to service has shaped the Alexandria community at large and the Alexandria and Virginia legal communities,” said Wright.

Anderson’s efforts on behalf of the community include mentoring younger lawyers, working with local legislators to find a circuit court nominee after the chief judge’s early retirement and working on a Senior Law Day program for the city of Alexandria.

Anderson is a past chair of the CLSBA; she currently is a member of the VSB Council and of the Senior Lawyers Conference board of governors. She is a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation and a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

Saville named ‘Specialty Bar Leader of the Year’

Sarah M. Saville, immediate past president of the Greater Peninsula Women’s Bar Association, was named the 2019 ‘Specialty Bar Leader of the Year’ by the VSB Conference of Local and Specialty Bar Associations.

The honor identifies past and presently active leaders of specialty bar associations who have continued to offer important service to the legal profession and the honorees’ communities..

Saville, an associate with McDermott Ward in Newport News, served as GPWBA president for the 2017-2018 term. She worked to increase its participation in pro bono and community service projects. And she added two new projects for the group – a pro bono clinic with the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia and participation in the “Walk in their Shoes” project to benefit the Center for Sexual Assault Victims.

In nominating Saville, Christine M. Andreoli of Williamsburg said that Saville has been in practice only seven years, but she has served the GPWBA for five of those years. Saville agreed to serve as secretary at a time when the group was lacking volunteers, Andreoli said. “Since then, [Saville] has dedicated herself to improving the GPWBA so that it can better serve its members and the larger community.”

In addition to her service with GPWBA, Saville is the incoming president for the Rotary Club of Oyster Point, and she serves on the Newport News Behavioral Health Docket board.

“Sarah approaches leadership with an attitude of enabling members to achieve their goals,” said Andreoli.

HuYoung is recipient of 2019 Dunnaville Award

Michael HuYoung received this year’s Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. Achievement Award from the VSB Diversity Conference.

The award, named after notable civil rights lawyer Clarence Dunnaville, honors a Virginia lawyer “for setting an example that fellow members can emulate to meet the conference’s goal of fostering, encouraging and facilitating diversity and inclusion in the bar, the judiciary and the legal profession.”

HuYoung, a partner with Barnes & Diehl in Richmond, was one of the founding members of the VSB’s Diversity Task Force, the group that laid the groundwork that eventually established the Diversity Conference.  A former conference chair, he served on the conference board of governors for two terms; he helped to create the Law Student Mentor/Mentee program at the VSB Annual Meeting.

Former conference chair Carole Capsalis said in her nomination, “Throughout his legal career, Michael has devoted his time, energy and leadership to make significant, demonstrable, and outstanding contributions to fostering, encouraging, and facilitating diversity and inclusion in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Michael’s herculean efforts shepherded the new conference through the unchartered waters of an unfunded conference.”

HuYoung has served on many boards and given much time to pro bono work in addition to teaching CLE courses and authoring articles emphasizing the importance of diversity in the legal profession. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Richmond law school.

Pustilnik is recipient of 2019 Legal Aid Award

Palma Pustilnik received the 2019 Legal Aid Award honoring excellence in legal aid society work at the VSB Annual Meeting.  She is a lawyer with of the Charlottesville office of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society.

Pustilnik is a senior staff attorney with the Charlottesville office of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society; she also is director of sexual assault advocacy services.

Robin J. Leiter-White, Pusilnik’s supervisor, wrote, “While most legal aid attorneys might appear in different courtrooms several times a week, Palma frequently is appearing in different courtrooms several times a day. Despite the stressful nature of her cases, Palma always manages to be ‘the most reasonable person in the room’ – a favorite line of hers.”

Pustilnik devotes her entire practice to family law and domestic and sexual violence cases.

Martin Wegbreit, the director of litigation for CVLAS and the first winner of the VSB Legal Aid Award in 1992, said in his nomination of Pustilnik, “Simply stated, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is no attorney more experienced, expert, forceful, knowledgeable, or steadfast in the area of domestic abuse and sexual assault than Palma Pustilnik.”

Pustilnik is a past president of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Bar Association and currently serves as a member of the VSB Council, representing the 16^th Circuit.

She is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of Georgia law school.

2019 Rakes Education Award goes to Edmonds

Thomas A. Edmonds received the 2019 William R. Rakes Leadership in Education Award from the VSB Section on the Education of Lawyres.

Edmonds was honored for his longstanding contributions to the field of legal education in both an academic setting as dean of the University of Richmond law school, as well as in an administrative setting with his work as VSB executive director.

Richmond lawyer George A. Somerville said in his nomination letter that “you will find no individual in Virginia who more fully exemplifies a lifelong commitment and demonstration of excellence in the areas that the Section on Education of Lawyers has identified as criteria for this award.”

Former VSB president John A.C. Keith wrote, “Tom Edmonds has demonstrated his abiding interest in the education of lawyers in countless ways.”

Edmonds practiced law briefly in Florida, then entered academia. He joined the UR law faculty in 1977 and served as dean there until 1987. He became VSB executive director in 1989 and served in that post until his retirement in 2007.

Since then, Edmonds has served two terms on the VSB Council for two terms; he currently serves on the board of the VSB Clients’ Protection Fund.

A graduate of Mississippi College, Edmonds earned his law degree from Duke University.