Chess, Wiley awarded Traver Award from VSB

Richard B. Chess of Richmond and Ronald D. Wiley Jr. of Charlottesville have been named dual recipients of the 2022 Traver Award by the Virginia State Bar Real Property Section and Virginia CLE.

The award, named after longtime Alexandria practitioner Courtland L. Traver, is bestowed to VSB Real Property Section members “who have made significant contributions to the practice of real property law generally and the section specifically and have generously shared their knowledge to others,” according to the VSB.

Chess, principal of Chess Law Firm in Chesterfield County, has been practicing real property law for more than 40 years. He has been an area representative for the VSB Real Property Section for more than 20 years and is current co-chair of the membership committee and is a board member of the real estate section. During his career, he has specialized in appealing property assessments, providing tax-on-asset-sale mitigation, helping grow portfolios via acquisitions and mergers among other areas of real property law.

A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Richmond Law School, Chess was mentored early in his career by Traver, and “has spent his career paying that mentorship forward.” He has presented CLE programs for more than 20 years and has published multiple articles in The Fee Simple, the VSB Real Property Section’s newsletter.

Wiley, underwriting counsel for Old Republic National Title Insurance Company, has been a real estate lawyer since graduating from the University of Richmond Law School in 1983. He worked in private practice until 1991, when he briefly changed careers to become a high school science teacher. Wiley returned to law full-time in 1993, and has been with Old Republic National Title Insurance Company since 2016.

A past section chair of the VSB Real Property Section, Wiley has been active in the statewide and local bars throughout his career. He has continued to give back to his alma mater, teaching courses in real estate transactions and finance at the University of Richmond Law School since 2013. Wiley has also served as a continuing education instructor for numerous Virginia CLE programs through the years.