2021-07-24 23:55:26
Highlights of the June 18 VSB Council Meeting
At its meeting on June 18, 2021, in Virginia Beach, the Virginia State Bar Council heard the following significant reports and took the following actions.
Proposed Unauthorized Practice of Law Opinion 218
Council unanimously approved draft Unauthorized Practice of Law Opinion 218: Does the uniform power of attorney act authorize a non-lawyer agent/attorney-in-fact to represent the principal in court? The proposed opinion will be presented to the Supreme Court of Virginia for approval.
2021–22 VSB President Installation
Due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions in Virginia, the 82nd Virginia State Bar Annual Meeting was hosted in a hybrid format. Annual Meeting CLEs were held virtually June 14–15. Awards recognition, Executive Committee and Council meetings, and the 2021–22 VSB president induction were held in Virginia Beach on June 17–18 in person by invitation only. Jay B. Myerson was sworn into office at the conclusion of the June 18, 2021, Council meeting. Stephanie E. Grana is president-elect for 2021–22, and will take over the presidency of the Bar in June 2022.
Stephanie Grana Is VSB President Elect
Stephanie E. Grana, a partner with the law firm of Breit Cantor Grana Buckner in Richmond, is the Virginia State Bar president-elect for 2021–22, and will take over the presidency of the Bar from current president, Jay Myerson, in 2022.
When she begins her term, Grana will be the seventh woman to head the 50,000 lawyers of the VSB in its 84-year history.
Grana, a personal injury litigator, wanted to be a lawyer since childhood. Her father and brother were tragically killed in a plane crash in 2008, making Grana a plaintiff and, she believes, a more empathetic lawyer in the process.
After attending the University of Richmond for both undergraduate and law school, Grana has devoted her career to litigation and service to the bar.
Her volunteerism includes past presidencies of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association; the American Board of Trial Advocates-Virginia Chapter; Lewis F. Powell Jr. American Inns of Court; and the Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association.
Grana currently serves on the VSB Executive Committee, Council for the 14th Circuit, the Budget & Finance Committee, and the Nominating Committee. She is also a member of the Boyd Graves Conference, the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee, and the “Working Group” to study expansion of the Court of Appeals.
Grana’s goals for her presidency include:
• Promoting professionalism
• Increasing diversity among VSB leadership and committee
• Recognizing bias
• Working with judges to enhance bench/bar relations
• Continuing the work of prior presidents for improved access to justice
Grana is married to attorney Scott Bemberis, and they have three children.
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News From The 82 Annual Meeting
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