Gary Spahn Named Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers

Troutman Sanders LLP is pleased to announce that Gary J. Spahn has been named Lawyer of the Year for 2011 by Best Lawyers.

After more than a quarter century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 17th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2011), is based on more than 3.1 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in Best Lawyers surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Spahn is a member of the firm’s Product Liability; Health Care; Complex Litigation; Consumer Law: Multi-State Trade Regulation Investigations, Litigation & Counseling; and D&O and Professional Liability practice groups.

He is a member of the American Bar Association, where he has served on numerous committees and subcommittees, including Co-Chair of the Product Liability Committee from 2007 to 2009; the Virginia Bar Association; the Product Liability Advisory Council; the International Association of Defense Counsel; the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys; the Defense Research Institute, where he has served on many committees; the American Arbitration Association; and the Judicial Conference of Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He co-authored the well-recognized treatise, Virginia Products Liability Law.

Outside the legal profession, Spahn was in the U.S. Air Force Reserves and has served as president, council or director for many associations, such as the Southampton Citizens Association, the Southampton Recreation Association, and the Virginia Power Boat Association.

Additionally, he has been a hearing officer for the Virginia Department of Commerce, a past mediator for the Richmond Circuit Court Dispute Resolution Program, and a past arbitrator and mediator for the American Arbitration Association.

He has been recognized by Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers for his legal capabilities and by Martindale-Hubbell for receiving the highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards.

Spahn earned a B.A. in 1971 and a M.A. in 1976 from Long Island University, and a J.D. in 1975 from the University of Richmond.