March 19, 2025
Susan Bradford Tarley Next President-elect of the Virginia State Bar
Susan Bradford Tarley of Tarley Robinson, PLC in Williamsburg has been tapped as the 2025-26 president-elect of the 50,000 lawyers of the Virginia State Bar.
Tarley has practiced law for 36 years, focusing on common interest communities, and commercial and residential real estate. Tarley also served as a substitute judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit for 18 years, and as an adjunct professor at William and Mary Law School.
Throughout her career, Tarley has held leadership positions in the community, the legal profession, and her practice area serving in non-profit entities including the Avalon Center, the Williamsburg Bar Association, the Greater Peninsula Women’s Bar Association, and the Central Virginia Chapter for Community Association Institute. At the VSB, Tarley is currently serving on VSB Council representing the 9th Judicial Circuit and on the Executive Committee. Previously, she was chair of the Clients’ Protection Fund Board and co-chair of the Common Interest Community subcommittee of the Real Property Section.
In 2012, Tarley was admitted to the College of Community Association Lawyers as an attorney who has distinguished herself through contributions to the practice of community association law. She was in the inaugural class of Virginia Leaders in the Law in 2006 and inducted into the Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2023. Tarley was named a Virginia Law Foundation Fellow in 2025.
Of her new role Tarley says, “I have always found fulfillment in volunteering, and I see these efforts as an essential part of my legal career.”
As for her goals in her upcoming year as president-elect and ultimately president, Tarley says, “As lawyers, our responsibility goes beyond our daily work. We must uphold the Rule of Law, serve with integrity, and protect the fundamental values of our democracy. My goal is to inspire our profession to safeguard these principles, protect the public, and ensure that the law remains a source of hope for all.”
In accordance with the Bylaws of the Virginia State Bar, Part I, Article III, Sec. 3., Tarley will be elected at the 2025 Annual Meeting in June as the president-elect of the VSB, replacing K. Brett Marston as he is elevated to president of the VSB.
Tarley practices law with her husband John Tarley Jr. A graduate of Penn State University, she received her J.D. from George Mason School of Law.