April 30, 2026
Martha McQuade Receives the Edward L. Chambers Jr. Lifetime Bar Service Award
Martha McQuade, partner at McQuade Byrum PLLC, received the Edward L. Chambers Jr. Lifetime Bar Service Award. The award was established in memory of the late Edward L. Chambers Jr. to recognize longstanding, extensive, and selfless volunteer work with the Virginia State Bar.
McQuade was nominated for the award by former Virginia State Bar Executive Director Karen A. Gould, who said she has known her for many years and thinks highly of her. “As a previous executive director of the Virginia State Bar (VSB), and as a Virginia lawyer who volunteered with the VSB before becoming executive director, I can attest to Martha’s commitment to service,” Gould said. “I have interacted with her on many occasions and can attest that she is a person of fine character.”
McQuade graduated from the George Washington University School of Law in 1984. She was admitted to the practice of law in Maryland and the District of Columbia in 1985 and Virginia in 1990.
An individual who encourages full and equal participation in the legal profession, McQuade was the VSB’s representative to the Virginia Commission on Women and Minorities (1992–1998) and served as president from 1996 to 1998. From 1995 to 1999, she was co-chair of the D.C. Bar Task Force on Sexual Orientation and the Legal Workplace. She was president of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia from 1995 to 1996. In 1997, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Virginia Curriculum Committee for Judicial Education (Diversity Training). She has been a member of the VSB Diversity Conference since its inception and was honored with the Clarence Dunnaville Achievement Award in 2014.
McQuade was appointed to the VSB Fourth District Disciplinary Committee in 2002, where she served until June 30, 2007. On July 1, 2007, she started her service on the VSB Disciplinary Board, where she served until June 30, 2013, serving as vice-chair and chair during her last two years.
An active member of the family law section since 1990, McQuade has often been a speaker or panelist on family law and ethics issues at state and local bar meetings. In addition, McQuade has served as a member of the VSB Bench-Bar Relations Committee (1992–1995), the Professionalism Course faculty (2017 to 2020), the Better Annual Meeting Committee (2019 to 2022), the Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee (2020 to 2023), and as an ABA Delegate (2019 to 2021).