March 16, 2026
Bruce H. Russell, II, Next President-elect of the Virginia State Bar
Bruce H. Russell II, of Bruce H. Russell II, P.C., of southwest Virginia, will be the 2026–2027 president-elect of the Virginia State Bar (VSB).
Russell has practiced law for over 25 years and, in that time, has served as a prosecutor, law professor, member of a small firm, and solo practitioner.
He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the University of Richmond School of Law. He began his legal career in Charlottesville in 2000 with the boutique firm of Thompson & Hagy, which focused on representing small high-tech companies.
Russell soon returned to Southwest Virginia to join the Buchanan County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as the only full-time assistant. While there, he prosecuted crimes such as murder and theft. The Appalachian School of Law later brought him on board as an adjunct faculty member.
Returning to private practice in 2002, Russell joined the law firm of Bolling & Hearl (eventually Bolling Hearl Russell), working out of Abingdon and Richlands. He established his own firm in 2009 in Lebanon, where he remains to this day, providing legal services in traffic and criminal defense, personal injury, and family law throughout Southwest Virginia.
He is the longest-serving president of the Russell County Bar Association, serving from 2013 through 2025. Additionally, he is a former president of the Criminal Defense Bar Association of the 28th Circuit and the Virginia Mountain/Valley Lawyers’ Alliance.
Russell is currently the chair of the VSB Bench-Bar Relations Committee and a member of several other VSB entities, including VSB Council, the Executive Committee, the Professionalism Course Faculty, the Strategic Planning Committee, and the Local and Specialty Bar Section. He has previously served on the Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee and the Entry, Growth & Distribution of Virginia Attorneys Study Committee.
Russell will succeed Susan Bradford Tarley, who will ascend to the role of VSB president on July 1. Following his year-long term as president-elect, Russell will serve as president of the VSB for the 2027–2028 term.