Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell’s Richard A. Gray Installed as President of Fairfax Bar Association
As a family law and divorce attorney Richard A. Gray knows that treating his clients with integrity, compassion and competence will help them move forward and maintain civility with each other during a difficult time in their lives. As the 2016-2017 president of the Fairfax Bar Association, and as a Partner with Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell in Northern Virginia, Mr. Gray will use the same values to lead the 2,000-member legal organization.
“The practice of law is changing with technology driving efficiencies and people spending more time online, yet the practice of law will always be a personal business where relationships matter,” says Gray. Service to the bar association is simply an extension of Mr. Gray’s view that the practice of law is an honor and a privilege that is personally rewarding and which provides a service to his clients and to the community at large. One of his top priorities is to foster and maintain congeniality and civility among the trial lawyers who regularly appear in court and to further good working relations between the bench and the bar.
From his years of experience practicing family law, Mr. Gray firmly believes compassion always overrides combat in achieving a successful outcome for both parties. “Clients benefit when there is a cooperative spirit among the lawyers and the best way to achieve that is for the attorneys to know and respect one another,” he adds.
Another priority implemented and maintained in conjunction with the Fairfax Bar Foundation are scholarships for students seeking a career in the legal field. “It’s important for us to pay it forward and open the doors to the next generation,” he adds.
Having aspired to be a lawyer since he was 12 years old, he is passionate about the practice of law as a career and in giving back to a profession that has given so much to him.
As he begins his one-year term as President effective July 1st, Mr. Gray does so with a solid record of public service. He has been a member of the Fairfax Bar Association since 2000 and began serving as a Board member in 2008. He also is a past Chair and Co-Chair of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) Collaborative Committee.
Outside of the legal profession he led his Homeowners Association as President for approximately five years and he has served for over fifteen years as a member of the Rotary Club of Vienna, Virginia where he was both an Officer and Director of the Rotary Club.
In 2014, Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell tapped Mr. Gray to open and lead the new Virginia office of the Washington. D.C. based firm.
“Public service has always been at the heart of what I do, whether that is volunteering, helping clients through life’s challenges or working with my colleagues at FTLF,” he notes.
His leadership has earned him recognition by his peers for his expertise and authority in the field of family law in the Virginia and D.C. Metro area. Among his honors, Gray is a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) and the Virginia Chapter of the AAML. He has been consistently recognized by the Washington Post and Northern Virginia magazine as a top attorney in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area. He has been listed as a Super Lawyer from 2006-2015 in the Virginia and D.C. Metro Super Lawyers magazine. In addition, Mr. Gray has achieved and maintains an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell.
He holds a Juris Doctorate from the New England School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts, a Master of Arts in Psychology from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University.