Erin B. Ashwell Partner

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Erin is a partner for the firm’s nationally ranked Government Investigations & White Collar Litigation Department. Erin recently served as Chief Deputy Attorney General for Virginia and has a strong background in government investigations that encompass regulatory, criminal and civil matters. Erin assists clients in consumer protection, criminal litigation, political and state attorney general enforcement and investigation issues that span subject matters, including education, labor & employment, and healthcare. As a member of both the Virginia and California bars, Erin serves clients nationally. However, she is based in Roanoke, Virginia allowing her to assist clients with the Western District of Virginia’s enforcement practice.

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. 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.

Experience

  • Supervised first pattern and practice investigation against law enforcement entity on behalf of the Commonwealth.
  • Formulated legal strategy for successful defense of state executive orders over nine-plus weeks of successive preliminary injunction challenges.
  • Won reversal of a $5.75 million judgment in Supreme Court of Virginia appeal that established new affirmative defense.
  • Resolved consumer protection matter involving dual criminal investigation and consumer protection litigation.
  • Conducted internal investigation into allegations of bullying and discrimination at a nonprofit organization.
  • Advised public school system on employment matters, free speech, and school law.