Erin B. Ashwell Partner

As Virginia’s Chief Deputy Attorney General under then Attorney General Mark Herring, Erin set legal strategy for more than 500 employees tasked with representing Virginia’s executive agencies as well as the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. She played key roles in major consumer protection, including the bipartisan, multistate action against the opioid manufacturers. She also coordinated legal strategy and advice for Virginia’s COVID-19 response, including reviewing and defending Gov. Ralph Northam’s executive orders. Her work during a time of crisis prompted the National Association of Attorneys General to honor her with the organization’s meritorious service award.

Before her government role, Erin provided legal services to clients at a Roanoke, VA-based law firm, where she had a diverse litigation and appellate practice, carrying out a variety of Title IX and Title VII investigations, often when they overlapped with alleged criminal conduct. She began her career as a trial lawyer at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division. She also served as a law clerk in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia for then Magistrate Judge, now District Judge, Michael Urbanski from 2009-2010.

Erin is the co-founder of Turn the Page, a volunteer organization providing books and food in coordination with Roanoke City Public Schools and the Roanoke Bar Association. She is a past recipient of the President’s Award for Volunteer Service, the VSB Pro Bono Honor Roll, and was named one of Virginia’s “Influential Women of Law” in 2022. She serves on the steering committee of the Boyd-Graves Conference and on the Fourth Circuit Rules Committee.