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Craig Wood '84L Receives 2016 William J. Brennan Jr. Award

Craig Wood, a member of the law class of 1984 and a partner in the firm of McGuireWoods, has received the William J. Brennan Jr. Award from the National Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law. The award recognizes Wood for his 30-year career as a lawyer and for more than two decades of teaching in the program.

Wood is a partner in his firm’s labor and employment practice. He regularly defends businesses, higher education institutions and school boards in a variety of employment and regulatory compliance matters. He tries cases in state and federal courts in Virginia, and handles appeals in the Virginia and U.S. Supreme Courts, and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. He regularly handles employment matters before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, and other state and federal agencies.

He has served as a professor of practice at W&L Law since 2009, teaching a practice simulation on higher education law.

The Brennan Award was instituted in 1987 in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan Jr., who served on the court from 1956 to 1990. The honorees — who include judges, lawyers in private practice and public officials — are recognized for exceptional trial skills and contributions to advocacy education and the legal profession.

Previous honorees include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; former U.S. District Judge Robert Merhige Jr., known for his desegregation rulings; famed litigator David Boies; and civil rights lawyer Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project. Last year’s recipients were Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, and Fairfax trial lawyer Kenneth W. Curtis.

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