Ryan Snow ‘01L Installed as 136th President of the Virginia Bar Association W&L alumni Chip Nunley '81 and Mark Peake ‘88L will also serve in leadership roles with the organization.

By Law Communications
February 1, 2024

W&L Law alumnus W. Ryan Snow ‘01L was installed as the 136^th president of the Virginia Bar Association (VBA). He is the second W&L alumnus in three years to serve as the VBA’s president. Victor Cardwell ’87L was the 134^th president and was the first Black lawyer to lead the organization.

“I’m a big believer in one overarching feature of this organization: Whatever your practice, whatever your age, whatever your role in the legal system, the VBA will bring out the absolute best in you,” Snow said during the VBA annual meeting after being sworn in as president.

Snow chairs the business disputes, construction law and government contracting practice groups at Crenshaw, Ware & Martin, P.L.C., in Norfolk. He served as managing partner of the firm from 2012 to 2020. He handles high-stakes litigation with a focus on complex business disputes and construction law. He also serves as local Virginia counsel in patent and other federal court litigation. In 2022, Inside Business named him one of four “People to Watch” in its annual Power List edition.

Snow is listed in Best Lawyers in America® and has been selected a Virginia Business Legal Elite in four categories. He is a past Chair of the Construction & Public Contracts Law Section of the VBA, a member of the IP Section of the Virginia State Bar, and a former President of the I’Anson-Hoffman American Inn of Court. In 2022 and 2023, he was named “Lawyer of the Year – Construction” for Virginia by Best Lawyers in America, an honor granted to a single lawyer based on highest overall peer ratings in a practice area.

Snow is not the only W&L alumnus to assume leadership positions within the VBA this year. Lonnie D. “Chip” Nunley III, a 1981 graduate of the College, was elected as Chair of the Board of Governors, and Mark J. Peake ‘88L will serve as a legislative representative. Peake has served in the state Senate since 2017 and practices law with Caskie & Frost in Lynchburg.

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