May 20, 2026
Local Government Attorneys of Virginia Named 2026 Specialty Bar of the Year
The Local Government Attorneys of Virginia (LGA) was named the Specialty Bar of the Year by the Virginia State Bar Local and Specialty Bar Section (LSBS).
The LGA promotes "education, professional excellence, and collegiality, serving as a valuable and unique resource on local government law through the Commonwealth." This was the intent of the small group of 5 people who, over 50 years ago, started the LGA to collaborate to assist localities, broaden their knowledge about municipal law, and improve the provision of local governmental services in Virginia.
The LGA has over 300 organizational members, including almost all Virginia cities, counties, and towns, the Attorney General's office, governmental authorities, school attorneys, governmental organizations like the Virginia Association of Counties and Virginia Municipal League, and private law firms that provide legal services to localities. Within these localities, organizations, and entities, the LGA has almost 900 individual members. These members include attorneys practicing "inhouse" for a local government entity, retirees, law firm attorneys whose practices include local government law representation, and 37 members of the judiciary.
The LGA has been an approved, accredited sponsor by the Virginia State Bar MCLE Board since 1986. For decades, it has provided approximately 25 hours of CLE classes to its members annually, including three-day spring and fall conferences, and a summer one-day regional seminar. CLE programs, held at locations across the Commonwealth, tackle topics that are bread-and-butter to local government attorneys—like land use (zoning and subdivision), public procurement, civil rights, taxation, utilities, eminent domain, school law, and social services - as well as more general topics also involved in our practices, like employment, real estate, construction, bankruptcy, and current case law. In the past several years, topics and programs involving mental health and substance abuse issues for lawyers have been provided at the conferences, including at least three CLEs on those topics. In addition, each multi-day conference has offered free exhibit space for the Virginia Judges & Lawyers' Assistance Program and has included an Alcoholics Anonymous "Friends of Bill W." meeting.
Several long-term LGA standing committees focus on work to improve the overall reputation of lawyers and the justice system. The Ethics Committee, in its role as a liaison with the Virginia State Bar's Standing Committee on Legal Ethics, reviews and comments on proposed ethics rules that affect the practice of local government law. The Ethics Committee also arranges for an annual CLE for LGA members on pertinent legal ethics topics.
The LGA Amicus Committee evaluates opportunities to file amicus briefs in appeals that could impact local government law, arranges for a brief to be filed on the LGA's behalf, with the brief often being prepared by members who may do the work gratis or at a reduced price. The LGA has filed or participated in filing 41 amicus curiae briefs, thereby helping to ensure that Virginia's appellate courts receive appropriate, thorough analysis of the potential legal impact of an issue on local governments and Virginia residents.
The LGA has recently undertaken a new collaborative project, Leadership Training, in partnership with the Virginia State Bar Local Government Section and the Virginia Institute of Government. Localities' chief counsel serve as leaders in the local government and their communities. These three entities have initiated a program to assist local government lawyers in preparing to fulfill these leadership roles.
The LSBS will present the 2026 Specialty Bar of the Year Award at the Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.