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Lawyers in the News

Kelly B. LaPar has joined the business and commercial litigation practice group at the law firm of Sands Anderson Marks & Miller in Richmond.

LaPar’s law practice focuses on construction contracts, construction defect claims and construction defect products liability claims, including issues involving multi-family residential developments, specialist subcontractors and complex construction systems. She most recently was employed by a law firm in Denver.

LaPar completed her undergraduate degree at Flagler College in Florida and earned her law degree from the University of Denver. In addition to representing clients in construction issues, she started a practice in equine law while in Colorado.

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Ashley Taylor, a partner in the Richmond office of Troutman Sanders, was named one of the 50 most influential minority lawyers by The National Law Journal. Taylor focuses his practice on helping some of the country’s largest corporations defend multistate investigations brought by state attorneys general. He recently co-founded a new section of the American Bar Association focused on state attorneys general investigations. Taylor was appointed by President Bush to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in 2004. He is a former deputy attorney general for Virginia, and was counsel to 2005 Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore.

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David P. Sanders, an international trade and customs attorney, has joined the Washington, D.C., office of Williams Mullen as a partner. His practice focuses on the representation of clients before U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He represents U.S. importers in a variety of customs matters and also advises clients regarding the U.S. regulation of exports and various trade policy and trade remedy issues.

Sanders currently serves as co-chairman of the International Trade Committee of the District of Columbia Bar’s international law section and is a member of the Customs Lawyers’ Association. He served on the U.S. Court of International Trade Advisory Committee from 1998 until early 2008.

Sanders received his law degree from the University of Denver and his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan. He is licensed to practice in Washington, D.C.

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John A. Merrick has joined Harman, Claytor, Corrigan & Wellman PC as an associate. Merrick received his undergraduate degree in 2001 from The University of the South and his law degree in 2007 from the University of Richmond. His primary areas of concentration are premises and products liability, construction, motor vehicle and commercial litigation.

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Three attorneys have joined the Richmond office of McGuireWoods.

Timothy E. Flanigan has rejoined the firm as a partner in the government investigations department. Flanigan most recently served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel for Tyco International Ltd., and as general counsel for Tyco’s safety products division. He has also served in the White House as deputy assistant and deputy counsel to the president, and in the Department of Justice as assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel. He received his law degree from the University of Virginia and his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University.

Sarah J. Surber has joined as an associate in the firm’s land use and environmental department. She was previously an associate with a law firm in West Virginia. She received her law degree from West Virginia University and her undergraduate degree from Marshall University.

Richard F. Blair has joined as an associate in the firm’s restructuring and insolvency department. He focuses on insolvency law and financial restructuring, including bankruptcy, creditors’ rights law and related commercial litigation. He received his master’s and law degrees from the University of Virginia, and his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

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John R. Fletcher, a partner with Tavss Fletcher, was awarded the Joseph L. Lyle Jr. Professionalism Award by the Virginia Beach Bar Association.

Fletcher practices civil and criminal litigation with a concentration in the representation of injury victims. He received his law degree from the College of William and Mary in 1975. He has served on numerous committees of the Virginia Bar Association, is a past member of the Virginia State Bar Council, is a member of the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee and was elected as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Virginia Law Foundation.

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Last month, the following officers were elected to one-year terms for the Radford-Montgomery County Bar Association:

• Paul M. Barnett, President
• Kay Heidbreder, President-Elect
• Christopher A. Tuck, Vice President
• James C. Turk Jr., Vice President
• Clifford L. Harrison, Secretary
• Marshall J. Frank, Treasurer

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