• Bio
  • Honors & Awards
  • Experience
  • Associations & Memberships
  • Publications
  • Community Involvement

Leonard C. Heath, Jr.

Partner

In 2018-19 Len served as the 80th President of the Virginia State Bar, the state agency that regulates and governs the approximately 32,000 lawyers who are in good standing across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Len was the first attorney from the Virginia Peninsula to serve in this capacity in over 50 years.

Len is a trial attorney. He has extensive experience in trying cases across Virginia, in both state and federal courts. He has handled a wide variety of legal matters, including personal injury, wrongful death, business litigation, will/trust/estate disputes, and real estate litigation. This experience has earned him a place on the coveted Super Lawyers' list, and has also helped him secure an "AV Preeminent" rating from Martindale Hubbell and a "Superb" rating from AVVO.

In January 2020, Len was inducted as a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation. Fellows are recognized as leaders in the profession, not just in their practices, but in their communities. This honor is held by less than 1% of Virginia attorneys. Len is also a Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America, which is a close-knit, peer-selected, and aggressively diverse honorary society of 3,500 trial lawyers across the country. Less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers are invited to join this organization.

Len is also recognized at the state and national levels as an expert in law student and lawyer well-being. He currently serves on Virginia Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program and is a member of the Virginia Supreme Court Wellness Advisory Committee. 

Bar Admissions

  • Virginia, 1986
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court Western District of Virginia
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 4th Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Education

  • The College of William and Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law, Williamsburg, Virginia
    • Juris Doctorate - 1986
    • William and Mary Law Review, Editor, 1985 - 1986
  • College of William and Mary, The Raymond A. Mason School of Business
    • Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Business Management - 1982

Len and his wife, Kimberly, have three adult children; Jordan, Caitlin, and Kyle.

  • AV Preeminent Martindale-Hubbell
  • Fellow, Virginia Law Foundation
  • Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
  • Super Lawyers, Business Litigation, 2005- 2009, 2011, 2012, 2016-2022
  • Legal Elite, Virginia Business Magazine, 2005 - 2007
  • AVVO Superb Rating
  • Top Lawyers of Coastal Virginia, 2015, 2018-2022

Appointment by a Court

Supreme Court of Virginia 

  • Supreme Court Wellness Advisory Committee, 2021 - Present
  • Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program, Board of Directors, 2019-present 
  • Supreme Court Lawyer Well-Being Committee, 2017-2018 
  • Virginia State Bar, Chair, Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board, 1998-1999 and 2013-2017 
  • Virginia State Bar, Vice-Chair, Virginia Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board, 1995-1998 
  • Virginia State Bar, Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board, 1993-1999 and 2010- 2018 

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia 

  •  Magistrate Judge Reappointment Merit Selection Panel, 2019 

Circuit Court for the City of Newport News 

  • Commissioner in Chancery 
  • Board of Zoning Appeals, 1994-1997

Classes/Seminars

  • Presenter, The Anatomy of a Real Estate Lawsuit, Chicago Title Insurance Company CLE, 2022
  • Panelist, Identifying and Managing the Occupational Risks of Practicing Law, VJLAP CLE, 2021
  • Presenter, Remarks Regarding how the Report of the Virginia State Bar President's Special Committee on Lawyer Well-being is Being Used, VBA COVID-19 Law Practice Chat, 2020
  • Virginia State Bar Designee for Zoom call with the NYSBA Attorney Well-being Task Force, discussing origins, use, and impact of "The Occupational Risks of the Practice of Law," Report of the VSB President's Special Committee of Lawyer Well-being, 2020
  • Presenter, Creative Wellness Initiatives for Your Bar Association: The Virginia Lawyer Well-being Initiative, National Association of Bar Executives, Austin, TX, 2020
  • Welcome and Opening Remarks, Harry Carrico Professionalism Course, Virginia Stat Bar, presented in Roanoke, Alexandria, Richmond, and Norfolk, VA, 2018-2019
  • Welcome and Opening Remarks, Solo and Small Firm Practitioner Forum, presented in Wytheville, Suffolk, and Fredericksburg, VA, 2018-2019
  • Presenter, How to Use the Report of the Virginia State Bar President's Special Committee on Lawyer Well-Being to Pursue Wellness in Your Career, Prince William County Bar Association, 2019
  • Panelist, Mentorship for Virginia Attorneys, Virginia CLE, Fairfax, VA, 2019
  • Co-Presenter, Addressing Suicide in the Legal Profession, Virginia CLE, 2019
  • Welcome and Opening Remarks, Virginia State Bar Techshow, Richmond, VA, 2019
  • Panelist, Lawyer Well-Being, Local Government Attorneys Association of Virginia Spring Conference, Norfolk, VA, 2019
  • Panelist, Bolch Judicial Institute, Duke Law School, Highlights of the Wellness Initiative in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Miami, FL 2019
  • Faculty, Law Student Wellness Summit, University of Virginia School of Law, 2019
  • Panelist, Lawyer Well-Being, Regent University School of Law, 2018
  • Presenter, 2018 Hot Topics and Legal Ethics, Virginia State Bar, Newport News, VA, 2018
  • Lecturer, Professionalism, Inaugural Lecture for Professionalism Series at Liberty University School of Law, 2018
  • Faculty, Professionalism for Law Students Program, Virginia State Bar, presented at University of Richmond School of Law, Liberty University School of Law, and Regent University School of Law, 2012-2018
  • Presenter, Right of Way Litigation Communications, International Right of Way Association, Richmond, VA, 2015
  • Presenter, Right of Way Preservation, Protection, Risk Management, and Other Issues, Southeastern Electric Exchange Real Estate Group, Williamsburg, VA, 2015
  • Presenter, Easements and the Changing Environment of Electric Transmission Corridors, Chicago Title, Farmville, VA, 2014
  • Presenter, Protecting Access Rights, Southeastern Electric Exchange, Orlando, FL, 2014
  • Faculty, Harry Carrico Professionalism Course, Virginia State Bar, presented in Richmond and Newport News, VA, 2009-2011
  • Presenter, Practicing Law in the 21st Century, ALPS, 2010
  • Presenter, Preventing Legal Malpractice Claims and Ethics Complaints in your Law Practice, Minnesota Lawyers Mutual, 2008
  • Presenter, Personal Injury Practice on the Virginia Peninsula, Newport News, VA, 1996
  • Teaching Assistant, Legal Writing Program, Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William and Mary, 1985-1986
  • Virginia State Bar, President, 2018-2019 
  • Virginia State Bar, Immediate Past President, 2019-2020  
  • Virginia State Bar, President-elect, 2017-2018  
  • Virginia State Bar, Executive Committee, 2014-2020
  • Virginia State Bar, Chair, President's Special Committee on Lawyer Well-Being, 2021-2022
  • Virginia State Bar, Nominations Committee, 2017-2020
  • Virginia State Bar, Better Annual Meeting Committee, 2017-present  
  • Virginia State Bar, Bench-Bar Relations Committee, 2017-2020  
  • Virginia State Bar Budget Committee, 2017-2020
  • Virginia State Bar, President’s Special Committee on Lawyer Well-Being, 2018-2019  
  • Virginia State Bar, Study Committee on the Future of Law Practice, 2017-2019  
  • Virginia State Bar, Lawyers Insurance Committee, 2009-2019  
  • Virginia State Bar, Bar Council Representative for 7th Circuit (Newport News), 2011- 2017  
  • Virginia State Bar, Vice-Chair, Virginia State Bar Emergency Legal Services Task Force, 2007-2010  
  • Virginia State Bar, Standing Committee on Legal Ethics, 2002-2008  
  • Virginia State Bar, Member, Special Committee to Study Litigation Costs and Delays, 1989-1993
  • Newport News Bar Association, President, 1997-1998  
  • Newport News Bar Association, Board of Directors, 1993-2002 and 2013-2016  
  • Newport News Bar Association, Chair, Judicial Screening Committee, 2001-2002 and 2011-2012
  • Newport News Bar Association, Co-Chair, Ethics Committee, 2000-2002  
  • Newport News Bar Association, Member, Judicial Screening Committee, 2000-2002  
  • Newport News Bar Association, Co-Chair, Continuing Legal Education Committee, 1993-1997  
  • Virginia Bar Association  
  • Virginia Trial Lawyers Association  
  • Williamsburg Bar Association

Publications

Collaborative Publication

Podcasts

Podcast for Legal Talk Network’s Digital Edge with Sharon Nelson and Jim Galloway. Addressing Lawyer Mental Wellness at the Virginia Bar, July 31, 2018

Cited

  • Chair, Jazz 4 Justice Committee for Christopher Newport University Program, 2013 - Present