Richmond/Charlottesville Legal Market Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hey all,

Is anyone willing to give a breakdown of the top lit firms in Richmond/Charlottesville?

I’m wrapping up a COA clerkship (not CA4) and also clerked for a district court. Will be moving to Charlottesville for personal reasons afterwards and wondering if I should I return to the DC big law firm I worked at previously or try to go to a local shop. I know of McGuire Woods, Moore Van Allen, and Hunton Andrews Kurth but don’t know how to distinguish them or if there are other better/more lit focused firms I should apply to.

Any insight into the market is much appreciated.

[Anonymous User]

MVA doesn’t have a Charlottesville office. Nor would you want to work at it if it did. I have to imagine the same goes for the other firms that you reference—those offices are probably one or two partners, maybe an associate or two as well. Very small outposts.

Edit to add: I just looked up Hunton. Doesn’t look like they even have a Charlottesville office anymore. McGuireWoods has 15 attorneys there, which is more than I thought. But this is pretty basic info that you clearly haven’t looked up if you’re naming two firms that aren’t even in the city you say they are.

Have you considered a job at UVA? You say you’re going to Charlottesville for personal reasons, which sounds like it might be a temporary situation that may pass. You could always do some sort of fellowship/legal writing role there for a year to tide you over.

[crouton62]

C'ville is an awesome place, but it's a tiny legal market. I am sure there are some small local firms that do cool and sophisticated work for a small market but getting a job at places like generally requires good connections and lucky timing. It's an hour drive between C'ville and Richmond. Spending two hours in a car every day will really suck and be a huge drain on your quality of life. I am in BigLaw and honestly don't know how I could fit two hours of dead commute time into my life. If you end up working in Richmond, it might be worth getting some cheap apartment there you can crash at to save yourself the drive sometimes, particularly during super busy periods. Or negotiate like hell with any Richmond firm to let you come into the office as little as possible once get settled in. Honestly, if your old D.C. firm is cool with you being essentially fully remote, I don't see why you don't go back there, especially if C'ville is more of a short-term deal and you'll be moving back to D.C. at some point.

But in terms of other Richmond firms besides Hunton and McGuireWoods, Troutman Pepper also has a large Richmond office. Two smaller Richmond-based firms that I think well of are Williams Mullen and Sands Anderson. All of those firms will have plenty of litigation work. If it were me, I'd start with McGuireWoods and then Troutman. I don't hear much about Hunton in terms of litigation outside of insurance recovery.

[Anonymous User]

MVA doesn’t have a Charlottesville office. Nor would you want to work at it if it did. I have to imagine the same goes for the other firms that you reference—those offices are probably one or two partners, maybe an associate or two as well. Very small outposts.

Edit to add: I just looked up Hunton. Doesn’t look like they even have a Charlottesville office anymore. McGuireWoods has 15 attorneys there, which is more than I thought. But this is pretty basic info that you clearly haven’t looked up if you’re naming two firms that aren’t even in the city you say they are.

Have you considered a job at UVA? You say you’re going to Charlottesville for personal reasons, which sounds like it might be a temporary situation that may pass. You could always do some sort of fellowship/legal writing role there for a year to tide you over.

I’m aware the McGuire Woods is the only firm I listed with an actual location in Charlottesville. I was inquiring about Charlottesville or Richmond as I could potentially live in between the two and commute.

Unfortunately I have to spend approximately 5 years in Charlottesville before returning to DC. Also considering AUSA jobs.

[Anonymous User]

C'ville is an awesome place, but it's a tiny legal market. I am sure there are some small local firms that do cool and sophisticated work for a small market but getting a job at places like generally requires good connections and lucky timing. It's an hour drive between C'ville and Richmond. Spending two hours in a car every day will really suck and be a huge drain on your quality of life. I am in BigLaw and honestly don't know how I could fit two hours of dead commute time into my life. If you end up working in Richmond, it might be worth getting some cheap apartment there you can crash at to save yourself the drive sometimes, particularly during super busy periods. Or negotiate like hell with any Richmond firm to let you come into the office as little as possible once get settled in. Honestly, if your old D.C. firm is cool with you being essentially fully remote, I don't see why you don't go back there, especially if C'ville is more of a short-term deal and you'll be moving back to D.C. at some point.

But in terms of other Richmond firms besides Hunton and McGuireWoods, Troutman Pepper also has a large Richmond office. Two smaller Richmond-based firms that I think well of are Williams Mullen and Sands Anderson. All of those firms will have plenty of litigation work. If it were me, I'd start with McGuireWoods and then Troutman. I don't hear much about Hunton in terms of litigation outside of insurance recovery.

This is very helpful. Really appreciate it. I think my best option at this point is to get an apartment in DC and try to do hybrid remote. I know there’s an Amtrak line between C’ville and DC so I think that could be doable. Just wanted to hear if there were any solid firms in the market I was missing before I put myself through that.