Bob focuses his practice on mass tort, product liability and complex commercial litigation. He handles high exposure cases and jury trials in state and federal courts around the country.
He recently obtained the largest reported settlement in Virginia — $ 18.8 Million dollars — for The Brink’s Company in an insurance coverage matter against the London markets. The case was pending in the Eastern District of Virginia. His trial experience includes first chair roles in product liability wrongful death cases for a major automobile manufacturer. He was trial counsel in a multi-million dollar Lanham Act and defamation jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case resulted in the largest verdict in Virginia for that year. Less than a year earlier, he tried a multi-million dollar tort case to a defense verdict also in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Additionally, Bob has tried CERCLA and mold toxicity cases to verdict in Virginia. He was trial counsel in a case selected by the National Law Journal as one of the “Top Ten Defense Verdicts of 2002,” and has served as counsel in numerous other jury trials around the nation. Bob defends mass and class action defendants and has served as part of the national defense team for a consumer products retailer involved in formaldehyde-related class action litigation and a defendant in mass litigation involving tainted steroid injections. In addition, Bob maintains an active appellate practice. He has appeared as lead appellate counsel six times in the Supreme Court of Virginia and has argued in the Texas Supreme Court, the Texas Court of Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He has filed amicus curiae briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court on matters related to patent interpretation
Bob also maintains an active pro bono practice. In 2005, Bob founded a pro bono clinic in conjunction with the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to serve the needs of Hispanic immigrants. The Virginia State Bar and the City of Richmond Bar Association have recognized Bob’s work with their highest pro bono awards.
Prior to entering private practice, Bob was a prosecutor for the U.S. Army in the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Member, United States Supreme Court Historical Society, December 2021 to present
Member, Virginia Law Foundation, Law Fellows Committee, 2019 to present
Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Saint Anselm Society, Charlottesville Virginia, September 2009 to present
Board of Directors, Richmond Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, August 2014 to January 2021
Board of Directors, Sacred Heart Center, Richmond Virginia, January 2014 to January 2020
Chair, 2018 Mid-Year Meeting CLE Committee, International Association of Defense Counsel, July 2017 to March 2018
Past Chair, Social Justice and Pro Bono Committee, International Association of Defense Counsel, August 2015 to July 2017
Past President, John Marshall American Inns of Court
Past Chair, International Association of Defense Counsel, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Committee.
Board of Directors, Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Member, Defense Research Institute
Member, Richmond Bar Association