April 26, 2023
Darrel Tillar Mason Receives 2023 Chambers Award
Darrel Tillar Mason of Manakin Sabot is the 2023 recipient of the Edward L. Chambers Jr. Lifetime Bar Service Award. The Chambers Award was established in 2020 and recognizes exemplary lawyers who, in the spirit of Ed Chambers, have performed extensive and selfless volunteer work with the Virginia State Bar.
Mason’s service with the VSB began when she joined VSB Council in 1990 as a member-at-large—a position she held for six years. The Supreme Court of Virginia reappointed Mason to VSB Council in the same role for a three-year term in 2009 and another term in 2012.
For over three decades, Mason has held various positions with the VSB. She spent a total of 10 years serving on the Committee on Lawyer Insurance—including two stints as committee chair—and 13 years on the Better Annual Meeting Committee. Mason has also served on several other committees like the Legal Ethics Committee, Budget and Finance Committee, Nominating Committee, Special Committee on Rules, and Resolution of Fee Disputes Committee as well as the now-defunct Lawyers Serving as Fiduciaries Committee and Study Future Space Needs of the VSB Committee. Her volunteer history is rounded out by time on the Senior Lawyers Conference Board of Governors, participation on two task forces—the Task Force on Membership Rules and the Task Force on Payee Notification—and by appointments from the Supreme Court of Virginia to the Harry L. Carrico Mandatory Professionalism Course Faculty and Medical Malpractice Review Panels.
All in all, Mason has accumulated 65 concurrent years of service (and counting) through her membership on various VSB volunteer entities.
Former VSB Executive Director Karen A. Gould nominated Mason for the Chambers Award. In her nomination letter, Gould praised Mason’s varied record of service.
“Darrel’s service to the Virginia State Bar and its members has been outstanding,” Gould wrote. “Like Ed Chambers, she has engaged in longstanding, extensive, and selfless volunteer work with the Virginia State Bar.”
Mason has been a member of the VSB since 1981, when she graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law. That same year, Mason became a founding member of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association, where she served as president from 1987-1988 and continues to be involved as a board member today. Additionally, she is a board member of the Virginia Law Foundation, which promotes access to justice, the rule of law, and continuing legal education. Mason has also founded the Virginia Coalition for Students with Disabilities Legal Advocacy Center, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the educational rights of children with disabilities.
The Chambers Award will be presented to Mason on June 14 at the VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.