About the Editors and Authors

• Library: Appellate Practice - Virginia and Federal Courts (Virginia CLE) (2016 Ed.)

ABOUT THE EDITORS AND AUTHORS

EDITORS:

L. Steven Emmert, Sykes, Bourdon, Ahern & Levy, P.C., Virginia Beach.
L. Steven Emmert, co-editor and author of Chapter 7, practices with the Virginia Beach firm of Sykes, Bourdon, Ahern & Levy, P.C. He focuses his practice exclusively on appellate advocacy in the state and federal courts. Mr. Emmert is a frequent lecturer in Virginia and elsewhere on appellate topics, and maintains a free website devoted to appellate practice in Virginia at www.virginia-appeals.com . He is a member of the Virginia State Bar (Past Chair, Appellate Practice Committee), Virginia Beach and Federal Bar Associations, Virginia Bar Association (Founder and Past Chair, Appellate Practice Section), the Boyd-Graves Conference (Past Chair), Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, American Bar Association (Council of Appellate Lawyers), and Litigation Counsel of America. Mr. Emmert is admitted to practice in Virginia courts, United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia, and the Court Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He received his undergraduate degree from Richmond College in 1979 and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1982.

Frank K. Friedman, Woods Rogers PLC, Roanoke.
Frank Friedman, co-editor and author of Chapter 5, is chairman of the Woods Rogers Appellate team. He has handled appeals across a broad spectrum of topics ranging from personal injury, property rights, labor and employment, to criminal, domestic, tax, products liability, and malpractice.

Mr. Friedman is currently serving as chair of the Appellate Practice Section of The Virginia Bar Association (VBA). He has served previously as the chair of the Board of Governors of the Litigation Section of the Virginia State Bar and chair of the Board of Editors of The Journal of Civil Litigation. He is a member of the VBA's Boyd-Graves Conference and is past president of the Board of the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center.

Mr. Friedman is a frequent speaker on appellate topics, including brief writing, oral argument, and waiver. Mr. Friedman was named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Virginia by Virginia Super Lawyers magazine (2013-2016). His appellate work is also recognized in rankings by Best Lawyers in America and Virginia Business magazine's "Legal Elite" list. He was named a "Leader in the Law" by Virginia Lawyers Weekly in 2015.

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AUTHORS:

Erin Ashwell, Woods Rogers PLC, Roanoke.
Erin Ashwell, author of Chapter 1, is a principal at Woods Rogers PLC. Her practice focuses on appeals and civil litigation. Ms. Ashwell regularly practices in front of the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Court of Appeals of Virginia, as well as Virginia's state and federal trial level courts. She is licensed to practice law in Virginia and California. Prior to joining Woods Rogers, Ms. Ashwell was a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice, with cases throughout the western states. She also served as a pro se law clerk for the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia and as a law clerk to the Hon. Michael F. Urbanski, then United States Magistrate Judge. Ms. Ashwell graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and cum laude from Harvard Law...