February 28, 2025
The Hon. Joanne F. Alper Honored for Lifetime Achievement in Family Law
Judge Joanne F. Alper of The McCammon Group in Richmond has been named the 2025 recipient of the Betty A. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award by the Virginia State Bar’s Family Law Section.
The award honors “…an individual who has made a substantial contribution to the practice and administration of family law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”
Judge Alper, who was a close friend of Betty Thompson, was nominated by Leslie Weber Hoffman of the Family Law & Mediation Center in Fairfax, and her nomination was supported by an additional eight attorneys from seven different firms.
Judge Alper’s commitment to the profession dates back to 1979, when she served as the president of the Northern Virginia Young Lawyers Association just four years after graduating from George Washington University Law School with honors. Judge Alper graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Syracuse University prior to law school.
Before her 21 years of service to the Arlington County judiciary, Judge Alper was a trial lawyer and a dedicated teacher of the law, presenting over 47 CLE lectures, serving as a faculty member for the University of Virginia’s Trial advocacy Institute for 16 years, teaching the VSB Professionalism Course for three years, and as a published author of six national and Virginia legal articles.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, even after joining the bench in 1991, Judge Alper devoted her time to leadership roles in numerous national associations, judicial councils, and conferences, including Chair of the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section, President of the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, membership on the Judicial Council of Virginia and the George Mason American Inn of Court, where she was a Master of the Inn.
Her exemplary lifetime devotion to furthering justice and the legal profession can perhaps best be seen in that Judge Alper received the VSB Family Law Section’s Distinguished Service Award in 1986, almost 40 years ago.
As Hoffman so aptly noted, “When we as lawyers refer to leadership in the law and lifetime achievements, we should view Judge Alper as the gold standard for her leadership, dedication to the profession, and accomplishments throughout her career.”
The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented at the 41st Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar on April 10, 2025, at the Hilton Hotel and Spa in Short Pump, Richmond.
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