List of presidents of the Virginia Bar Association

The president of The Virginia Bar Association is the chief executive officer of the Virginia Bar Association (VBA), the Commonwealth's voluntary statewide bar association. The president is the Association's chief spokesman and presides at all meetings of its members. Every year, a slate of candidates are nominated by the organization's Board of Governors. At the annual full meeting of the Association's members, a president-elect is chosen by direct popular vote from among the nominees. At the adjournment of the succeeding year's annual meeting, the president-elect is then sworn in as president. In the event of an emergency such as the death or resignation of the president elected as above, the president-elect discharges the duties of the president. If the president-elect is not available to succeed the president, a temporary replacement is appointed by the Board of Governors, and, if necessary, both a new president and president-elect are elected at the next annual meeting.

President of the Virginia Bar Association
Seal of the VBA
Incumbent since January 25, 2025
Member of	Virginia Bar Association
Nominator	Board of Governors
Appointer	Direct popular vote by the members of the association
Term length	One year
Constituting instrument	Bylaws of The Virginia Bar Association
Formation	July 6, 1888 (136 years ago) (1888-07-06)
First holder	William J. Robertson
Website	Official website

After the VBA's foundation in July 1888, William J. Robertson of Charlottesville became its first president. The presidency has a term of only one year. From 1888 to 1975, the VBA annual meeting was held during the summer. From 1975 onwards, it has been held in January.

A total of 137 people have served as the president of the Virginia Bar Association since its formation. Kimberlee Harris Ramsey is the current president.

List of presidents

List of presidents from 1888 to 2025

No.	Year(s) of Presidency	Name	Portrait	Residence	Reference(s)
1	1888–1889	William J. Robertson		Charlottesville
2	1889–1890	Robert Garlick Hill Kean		Lynchburg
3	1890–1891	Edward C. Burks		Bedford
4	1891–1892	John Randolph Tucker		Lexington
5	1892–1893	Robert T. Barton		Winchester
6	1893–1894	Waller Redd Staples		Christiansburg
7	1894–1895	Charles Minor Blackford		Lynchburg
8	1895–1896	Robert M. Hughes		Norfolk
9	1896–1897	William Wirt Henry		Richmond
10	1897–1898	William B. Pettit		Palmyra
11	1898–1899	John Goode		Bedford
12	1899–1900	William J. Leake		Richmond
13	1900	William Alexander Anderson		Lexington
14	1900–1901	Lunsford L. Lewis		Richmond
15	1901–1902	Thomas C. Elder		Staunton
16	1902–1903	Samuel C. Graham		Tazewell
17	1903–1904	Alexander Hamilton		Petersburg
18	1904–1905	Alfred P. Thom		Norfolk
19	1905–1906	Archer Allen Phlegar		Bristol
20	1906–1907	Allen Caperton Braxton		Staunton
21	1907–1908	Wyndham R. Meredith		Richmond
22	1908–1909	Micajah Woods		Charlottesville
23	1909–1910	R. Walton Moore		Fredericksburg
24	1910–1911	George Llewellyn Christian		Richmond
25	1911–1912	Joshua Fry Bullitt Jr.		Big Stone Gap
26	1912–1913	William Minor Lile		Charlottesville
27	1913–1914	Samuel Griffin		Bedford
28	1914–1915	Legh R. Watts		Portsmouth
29	1915–1916	Eppa Hunton Jr.		Richmond
30	1916	John B. Jenkins		Norfolk
31	1916–1918	Harvey T. Hall		Roanoke
32	1918–1919	Lucien H. Cocke		Roanoke
33	1919–1920	Randolph Harrison		Lynchburg
34	1920–1921	Armistead C. Gordon		Staunton
35	1921–1922	A. W. Wallace		Fredericksburg
36	1922–1923	Edward P. Buford		Lawrenceville
37	1923–1924	George Bryan		Richmond
38	1924–1925	Robert B. Tunstall		Richmond
39	1925–1926	John Randolph Tucker		Richmond
40	1926–1927	R. Gray Williams		Winchester
41	1927–1928	James H. Corbitt		Suffolk
42	1928–1929	Whitwell W. Coxe		Roanoke
43	1929–1930	J. Gordon Bohannon		Petersburg
44	1930–1931	Robert L. Pennington		Bristol
45	1931–1932	Virginius R. Shackelford		Orange
46	1932–1933	James W. Gordon		Richmond
47	1933–1934	S. V. Kemp		Lynchburg
48	1934–1935	C. O'Conor Goolrick		Fredericksburg
49	1935–1936	Stuart Bland Campbell		Wytheville
50	1936–1937	James Green Martin		Norfolk
51	1937–1938	Frank W. Rogers		Roanoke
52	1938–1939	Lewis Catlett Williams		Richmond
53	1939–1940	Robert O. Norris Jr.		Lively
54	1940–1941	Kennon C. Whittle		Martinsville
55	1941–1942	William A. Stuart		Abingdon
56	1942–1943	George E. Haw		Richmond
57	1943–1944	Christopher B. Garnett		Arlington
58	1944–1946	Howard C. Gilmer Jr.		Pulaski
59	1946–1947	Thomas B. Gay		Richmond
60	1947–1948	John L. Walker		Roanoke
61	1948–1949	David Nelson Sutton		West Point
62	1949–1950	James S. Easley		Halifax
63	1950–1951	W. R. Broaddus Jr.		Martinsville
64	1951–1952	Alex W. Parker		Richmond
65	1952–1953	Fred B. Greear		Norton
66	1953–1954	T. Justin Moore		Richmond
67	1954–1955	Michael B. Wagenheim		Norfolk
68	1955–1956	F. D. G. Ribble		Charlottesville
69	1956–1957	Edwin B. Meade		Danville
70	1957–1958	J. Sloan Kuykendall		Winchester
71	1958–1959	David J. Mays		Richmond
72	1959–1960	William P. Dickson Jr.		Norfolk
73	1960–1961	Robert J. McCandlish Jr.		Fairfax
74	1961–1962	William T. Muse		Richmond
75	1962–1963	Waldo G. Miles		Bristol
76	1963–1964	Thomas C. Gordon		Richmond
77	1964–1965	Virginius R. Shackelford Jr.		Orange
78	1965–1966	George M. Cochran		Staunton
79	1966–1967	A. C. Epps		Richmond
80	1967–1968	William A. Moncure		Alexandria
81	1968–1969	George R. C. Stuart		Abingdon
82	1969–1970	Toy D. Savage Jr.		Norfolk
83	1970–1971	E. Waller Dudley		Alexandria
84	1971–1972	John S. Davenport III		Richmond
85	1972–1973	Vernon M. Geddy Jr.		Williamsburg
86	1973–1975	W. Gibson Harris		Richmond
87	1975	Thomas V. Monahan		Winchester
88	1976	William B. Spong Jr.		Portsmouth
89	1977	A. Hugo Blankingship Jr.		Fairfax
90	1978	Edward R. Slaughter Jr.		Charlottesville
91	1979	Jesse B. Wilson III		Fairfax
92	1980	Lorenzo Lee Bean Jr.		Arlington
93	1981	Hugh L. Patterson		Norfolk
94	1982	John F. Kay Jr.		Richmond
95	1983	John L. Walker Jr.		Roanoke
96	1984	George G. Grattan IV		Earlysville
97	1985	Evans B. Brasfield		Richmond
98	1986	Edmund L. Walton Jr.		McLean
99	1987	R. Gordon Smith		Richmond
100	1988	John M. Ryan		Norfolk
101	1989	Thomas T. Lawson		Roanoke
102	1990	F. Claiborne Johnston Jr.		Richmond
103	1991	Allen C. Goolsby		Richmond
104	1992	Thomas C. Brown Jr.		McLean
105	1993	Whittington W. Clement		Danville
106	1994	M. Langhorne Keith		Fairfax
107	1995	R. Terrence Ney		Fairfax
108	1996	Douglas P. Rucker Jr.		Richmond
109	1997	Phillip C. Stone Sr.		Bridgewater
110	1998	G. Franklin Flippin		Roanoke
111	1999	David Craig Landin		Richmond
112	2000	Anita O. Poston		Norfolk
113	2001	Jeanne F. Franklin		Alexandria
114	2002	J. Edward Betts		Richmond
115	2003	Frank A. Thomas III		Orange
116	2004	E. Tazewell Ellett		Alexandria
117	2005	James V. Meath		Richmond
118	2006	William R. Van Buren III		Norfolk
119	2007	Glenn C. Lewis		Washington, D.C.
120	2008	G. Michael Pace Jr.		Roanoke
121	2009	John D. Epps		Richmond
122	2010	Stephen D. Busch		Richmond
123	2011	Lucia Anna Trigiani		Alexandria
124	2012	Hugh M. Fain III		Richmond
125	2013	Thomas R. Bagby		Roanoke
126	2014	John L. Walker III		Richmond
127	2015	Harry M. Johnson III		Richmond
128	2016	James Patrick Guy II		Richmond
129	2017	David S. Mercer		Alexandria
130	2018	C. J. Steuart Thomas III		Staunton
131	2019	Richard E. Garriott Jr.		Virginia Beach
132	2020	Alison M. McKee		Virginia Beach
133	2021	Richard H. Ottinger		Norfolk
134	2022	Victor O. Cardwell		Roanoke
135	2023	Benjamin D. Leigh		Leesburg
136	2024	W. Ryan Snow		Norfolk
137	2025	Kimberlee Harris Ramsey		Richmond

See also

• List of presidents of the American Bar Association

References

1. "Bylaws of The Virginia Bar Association". Virginia Bar Association. January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
2. "History". Virginia Bar Association. 2025. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
3. "VBA Installs John L. Walker III as President". Virginia Bar Association. January 27, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
4. "VBA Installs 'Pete' Johnson as President". Virginia Bar Association. January 26, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
5. "VBA Installs 128th VBA President; New Leadership". Virginia Bar Association. January 29, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
6. "VBA Installs Officers, Including David S. Mercer as 129th President". Virginia Bar Association. January 23, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
7. "Steuart Thomas Becomes 130th VBA President". Virginia Bar Association. January 29, 2018. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
8. "Richard E. Garriott Jr. Becomes 131st VBA President". Virginia Bar Association. January 29, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
9. "VBA Installs Alison M. McKee As 132nd President". Virginia Bar Association. January 27, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
10. "VBA Inducts 2021 Officers, Welcomes New Board Members". Virginia Bar Association. January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
11. "Victor O. Cardwell Installed as 134th VBA President". Virginia Bar Association. January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
12. "VBA Installs Benjamin D. Leigh as 135th President". Virginia Bar Association. January 25, 2023. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
13. "W. Ryan Snow Installed as 136th VBA President". Virginia Bar Association. January 25, 2024. Retrieved March 23, 2025.
14. "Kimberlee Harris Ramsey Installed as 137th VBA President". Virginia Bar Association. January 31, 2025. Retrieved March 23, 2025.

External links

• Virginia Bar Association