Petty, Livingston, Dawson & Richards, P.C. and Southern Virginia Legal PLLC have announced a merger of their firms, effective January 1, 2024. As PLDR Law, the two merged entities will create a sixteen-lawyer firm with offices in Lynchburg and Danville, while serving communities across Central and Southern Virginia.
- Steven Gould
- Jim Richards
- Scott Kowalski
- Holly Trent
“Lynchburg and Danville bookend a geographically large, growing, and vital region of the state,” said Jim Richards, Named Partner of Petty Livingston. “Attorney demographics in the region suggest that soon the businesses, individuals, and localities in the region will be significantly underserved by its attorney population through retirement and through a diminishing number of practicing lawyers locally.”
With their sights set on being the premier law firm in and for the Central and Southern Virginia region, PLDR Law is poised to approach the unique legal needs of their clients.
“SoVa and Petty Livingston have individually worked to serve the region’s legal needs and through cooperation with one another concluded that combining resources was the best way to meet those needs,” explained Richards. “The combined firm brings a deeper bench to bear on sophisticated client matters.”
In years past, SoVa Legal would draw on the expertise of Petty Livingston to supplement the business, employment, and estate planning legal services they were offering to their clients. While SoVa Legal’s practice areas included many areas of business law, including employment, corporate transactions, and business creation, Petty Livingston was able to offer media law, civil litigation, accident and personal injury, commercial real estate, and more.
“The opportunity to join forces allows us to ensure that the Danville market continues to be served by a robust, full-service firm that can grow with our community,” said Steven Gould, founder and managing attorney of SoVa Legal.
This added layer of legal coverage includes the addition of Holly Trent, an experienced healthcare attorney who most recently served as senior vice president and chief legal officer for Centra Health. Holly will join the firm’s employment law group and lead the firm’s healthcare practice.
“Petty Livingston has experienced significant growth the last two years, and SoVa Legal has developed a tremendous reputation assisting clients who are helping to drive economic revitalization in the Danville area,” said Scott Kowalski, President of Petty Livingston. “By combining our resources and talents, we can expand our offerings to clients even further. The addition of Holly Trent is a key component of that expansion.”
“I am excited to join the team at PLDR Law to assist businesses and professionals across the region,” elaborated Trent. “Healthcare law is increasingly complex, and I look forward to using my experience across employment, regulatory, and healthcare matters to help clients navigate this world.”
PLDR Law envisions this merger will be the beginning of a leading regional presence across the Central and Southern Virginia communities.
It’s estimated that Southern Virginia will experience an economic boom in the coming years—building on the solid foundation it already has. Because of its accessible location and stable, business-friendly environment, Southern Virginia has attracted both national and international companies from myriad industries, including plastic manufacturing, warehouse and distribution, information technology, biotechnology, and auto supply manufacturing. Its rich history in high-performance manufacturing and the infrastructure in place to support its growth makes the Southern Virginia area an ideal target for economic expansion.
“More and more, the futures of communities across Central and Southern Virginia are linked to one another,” said Richards. “Creating a truly regional firm that can meet the diverse needs of not just our cities but the towns and rural arrears around us just makes sense.”
PLDR Law hopes that this merger will also work to solve the aforementioned decrease in local practicing lawyers. In fact, a recent report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) stated that the state of Virginia had 4,000 attorneys appointed in 2013 and that number is now down to 1,900.
“We are confident this merger allows the firm to better acquire and keep talented attorneys who wish to make a significant impact on their communities and be a part of a growing regional firm,” furthered Richards. “We believe that the practice of law in our area is becoming more and more regional. We want to be ahead of the curve here, not trying to catch up, and this move allows us to do just that.
As Central and Southern Virginia continues to grow, PLDR Law will serve alongside their clients and assist in that growth.
“Clients are at the center of what we do,” said Gould. “We’ve spent many hours in conversation with our trusted client colleagues. They care about our region as much as we do, and we consider them all key factors in how things came to be. Danville represents a very important hub to this growth for PLDR Law. Our transactional practice and business management will be centered in Danville.”