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Robin Wood Receives Tradition of Excellence Award

Robert “Robin” C. Wood III, who graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1962, will receive the 2015 Tradition of Excellence Award from the Virginia State Bar’s General Practice Section.

The award recognizes a lawyer who embodies the highest tradition of personal and professional excellence and who has benefitted the community and enhanced the esteem of general practice attorneys in Virginia. Robin, who has been practicing law for more than 50 years, will receive his award on June 20 during the VSB annual meeting at Virginia Beach.

Robin has been an adjunct professor of law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, teaching Virginia Law and Procedure. A former W&L Law student, John C. Johnson ’91L, of Roanoke, wrote in his nomination letter for this award: “He was one of the toughest professors I ever had in law school. So tough that after two weeks I elected to take it Pass/Fail. The joke was on me because he made us work so hard that I thought I would actually fail. … I refer to his course book several times a year. He is a scholar and a solid lawyer.”

Ronald A. Page Jr. ’05L, of Richmond, added, ” class was the most difficult, most interesting, and most useful class I took as part of my legal education…. class was a crucible where raw iron was transformed into steel. Mr. Wood’s students were enlightened and given such a practical understanding of Virginia procedure that passing the bar became a near certainty. To this day, I still have all of my written materials from that class and look back at them at least a couple times each year.”

Robin is a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation; author of “Civil Procedure in Virginia, Virginia Law and Practice: a Handbook for Attorneys”; and a member of Order of the Coif at W&L School of Law. He is a former chair of the Boyd-Graves Conference, president of the Lynchburg Bar Association, chair of the Litigation Section of the Virginia State Bar and editor of its newsletter, and a member of the board of governors of the Virginia Bar Association. He was also an ACC football head referee from 1975 to 2001 and has served on many boards in the Lynchburg community, including the Chamber of Commerce, Lynchburg Fine Arts Center, Virginia Legal Aid Society, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lynchburg Redevelopment and Housing Authority and United Way.

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