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• NPBA Pro Bono Committee Meeting

  • When
    Tuesday, February 10, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Information to be Sent

  
  

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• NPBA Executive Committee Meeting

  • When
    Wednesday, February 11, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Dial in Information to Follow

  
  

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• Luncheon - Virginia Zoo - Past, Present, and Future

  • When
    Thursday, February 19, 2026
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    Norfolk Courthouse Rotunda

  Register

  Join us for the monthly Luncheon Meeting on February 19, 2026

  12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

  Free to NPBA Members; $30.00 Non-Members

  Registration includes a boxed lunch and water.

  Speaker: Michelle Lewis, Director of Mission Engagement

  Summary: Past, Present, and Future of the Zoo as the Zoo is celebrating their 125th Anniversary this year!

  A Hybrid Organization

  The Virginia Zoo functions as a true hybrid operation through the joint efforts and constant communication between the staff of the Virginia Zoological Park (VZP) and the Virginia Zoological Society (VZS). VZP staff maintains all animal exhibits and provides animal care and husbandry, maintains the lush grounds and gardens, oversees most building repair and maintenance, and manages the Zoo’s ticket booth.

  
  

  VZS staff operates the Zoo’s gift shop, restaurant and concessions, educational programs, special events and parties, membership program, marketing and promotions, and fundraising and grant writing through the private sector.

  The staffs of both organizations work side-by-side on a daily basis and the operations of the two organizations are not only closely related and complementary but are mostly indistinguishable.

  If you are interested in reaching out, please call the Zoo’s mainline at 757-441-2374 or email info@virginiazoo.org

  Disclaimer

  By registering for this Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) event or program you consent to being photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded at the event or program. By doing so, you grant to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) rights to the release, publication or reproduction of any recorded media taken at the event or program of your appearance, voice or name for use by the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) and its management team.       

  
  

  
  

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• Post Luncheon CLE - Topic - Upcoming Criminal Sealing Laws

  • When
    Thursday, February 19, 2026
  •  
    1:15 PM
  • Location
    Norfolk Courthouse - First Floor Training Room

  Register

  Thursday, February 19, 2026

  1:15pm to 2:15pm - Norfolk Courthouse First Floor Training Room

  Free to NPBA members; $30 non-members

  1 CLE Credit

  Topic:  Upcoming Criminal Sealing Laws

  Presenter: Rob Poggenklass, Executive Director, Justice Forward Virginia

  

  Justice Forward Virginia is a public-defender led nonprofit that promotes criminal justice reform through smart, contemporary, evidence-informed policy advocacy. As executive director, Rob works with practitioners, lawmakers, and other advocates to enact criminal legal reforms at the General Assembly in Richmond. He has served as a legal aid lawyer in both Iowa and Virginia, and started his career as a public defender in Newport News. Rob has argued cases on behalf of indigent clients in both the Iowa Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Virginia.

  In 2010, Rob was the Virginia State Bar’s recipient of the Oliver White Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award. In 2025, he received the Leadership and Service Award from Cornell College for contributions in the field of criminal justice. He has served on the Iowa State Bar Association’s Student Debt Task Force and currently serves on the VSB’s Committee on Access to Legal Services. Before becoming a lawyer, Rob spent four years as a small-town newspaper reporter and editor in Iowa. Rob and his family live in Albemarle County.

  Cornell College (B.A.), 2003

  William & Mary School of Law (J.D.), 2010

  
  

  Disclaimer

  By registering for this Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) event or program you consent to being photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded at the event or program. By doing so, you grant to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) rights to the release, publication or reproduction of any recorded media taken at the event or program of your appearance, voice or name for use by the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) and its management team.       

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• NPBA Pro Bono Committee Meeting

  • When
    Tuesday, March 10, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Information to be Sent

  
  

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• NPBA Executive Committee Meeting

  • When
    Wednesday, March 11, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Dial in Information to Follow

  
  

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• Luncheon - 4th Amendment Privacy Law

  • When
    Thursday, March 19, 2026
  •  
    12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
  • Location
    Norfolk Courthouse Rotunda

  Join us for the monthly Luncheon Meeting on March 19, 2026

  12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

  Free to NPBA Members; $30.00 Non-Members

  Registration includes a boxed lunch and water.

  Speaker: Professor James Duane

  

  Professor James Duane has been interviewed about legal matters on television and radio, including National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and has testified before the Advisory Committee of the United States Judicial Conference on the Federal Rules of Evidence. He has lectured before lawyers and law professors at conferences and training sessions conducted by Hastings Law School, the College of William and Mary, the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, the Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, among others. Duane is a member of the Boyd-Graves Conference of the Virginia Bar Association, and is admitted to practice before the courts of New York and Virginia, as well as numerous federal courts. In the spring of 2008, he gave a talk at Regent Law School about some of the reasons why even innocent criminal suspects should never agree to answer questions from the police, and that video now has more than 5 million views on YouTube.

  Disclaimer

  By registering for this Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) event or program you consent to being photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded at the event or program. By doing so, you grant to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) rights to the release, publication or reproduction of any recorded media taken at the event or program of your appearance, voice or name for use by the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) and its management team.       

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• Post Luncheon CLE - The Nine Circles of Appellate Hell: Acting as the Appellate Virgil to the Trial Lawyer’s Dante

  • When
    Thursday, March 19, 2026
  •  
    1:15 PM
  • Location
    Norfolk Courthouse First Floor Training Room

  Register

  Thursday, March 19, 2026

  1:15pm to 2:15pm - Norfolk Courthouse First Floor Training Room

  Free to NPBA members; $30 non-members

  Summary: 

  Despite Dante's sharp pen, he needed Virgil to guide him through the 9 circles of Hell. No matter how seasoned a quick-witted lawyer is with trial work, he may be entrapped by the perils of litigating the Court of Appeals of Virginia and the Supreme Court of Virginia and the technical missteps that could harm or doom your appeal. Throughout this CLE, we will act as your Virgil and help you prepare for your journey through the spooky appellate underworld.

  
  

  Presenters: W. Thomas Chappell, Woods Rogers, Sophie L. Arnold, Woods Rogers

  
  

  W. Thomas Chappell

  Thomas is a civil litigator. Much of his practice focuses on representing clients on appeal before the Court of Appeals of Virginia, the Supreme Court of Virginia, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. A former appellate law clerk for a justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia, Thomas takes pride in his legal writing, analysis, and research. He frequently writes and presents on appellate advocacy. In addition to involvement in cases on appeal where the firm was counsel at trial, Thomas also has served as appellate counsel in matters tried by other law firms and enjoys partnering with outside attorneys as an appellate consultant.

  Thomas also has an active civil trial practice. He focuses much of that practice on trusts and estates litigation, real estate litigation, and commercial litigation. He also has experience with land use matters and representing community associations. He frequently appears in courts throughout Virginia, especially in the Hampton Roads area.

  Outside of work, most of Thomas's time is happily spent with his family doing things such as going to the beach, the library, the Norfolk Zoo, and William & Mary sporting events.

  Experience

  ·         Appellate counsel in cases before the Court of Appeals of Virginia, the Supreme Court of Virginia, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

  ·         Litigation counsel in trusts and estates disputes.

  ·         Litigation counsel in commercial and residential landlord-tenant disputes.

  Sophie L. Arnold

  Sophie's practice focuses on litigation and dispute resolution.

  Prior to joining Woods Rogers, Sophie served as a law clerk to the Honorable Tasha D. Scott and the Honorable Everett A. Martin, Jr., in the Norfolk Circuit Court.

  While attending the University of Richmond School of Law, Sophie was a copy editor for the Journal of Law and Technology, and received both the Law Faculty Award in Intellectual Property and a CALI Award of Excellence in Copyright Law and Trademark Law. She completed law school with a certificate in Intellectual Property.

  During law school, Sophie was a member of the Intellectual Property Clinic, and she loved the topic and doing client facing work. Since completing her clerkship, Sophie has found that litigation is where she thrives, whether it be contract or tort claims, or the niche world of intellectual property.

  Sophie grew up in central Florida in a small community and completed her undergraduate degree in Literature. She originally believed that she might pursue a career in education, as much of her family has, but decided to take the LSAT on a whim and went to law school instead. Once Sophie got to Virginia, she fell in love with the seasons and people, and decided to relocate here permanently with her husband.

  Disclaimer

  By registering for this Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) event or program you consent to being photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded at the event or program. By doing so, you grant to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) rights to the release, publication or reproduction of any recorded media taken at the event or program of your appearance, voice or name for use by the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) and its management team.       

  
  

  
  

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• Breakfast with the Bench - Judge Elizabeth W. Hanes

  • When
    Friday, March 20, 2026
  •  
    7:15 AM
  • Location
    TBD

  Register

  Location TBD

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• 28th Annual Bench Bar Conference CLE: Approved

  • When
    Tuesday, March 31, 2026
  •  
    12:30 PM - 6:30 PM
  • Location
    Norfolk Waterside Marriott / 235 East Main Street / Norfolk, VA 23510

  Register

  
  

  More information coming soon!

  Disclaimer

  By registering for this Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) event or program you consent to being photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded at the event or program. By doing so, you grant to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) rights to the release, publication or reproduction of any recorded media taken at the event or program of your appearance, voice or name for use by the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) and its management team.             

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• NPBA Executive Committee Meeting

  • When
    Wednesday, April 08, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Dial in Information to Follow

  
  

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• NPBA Pro Bono Committee Meeting

  • When
    Tuesday, April 14, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Information to be Sent

  
  

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• NPBA Pro Bono Committee Meeting

  • When
    Tuesday, May 12, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Information to be Sent

  
  

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• Tentative - NPBA Executive Committee Meeting

  • When
    Wednesday, May 13, 2026
  •  
    4:00 PM
  • Location
    Zoom - Information to be Sent

  
  

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• NPBA Annual Meeting

  • When
    Thursday, May 14, 2026
  •  
    6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
  • Location
    Norfolk Yacht & Country Club / 7001 Hampton Boulevard / Norfolk, VA 23505

  Register

  
  

  Reconnect with your colleagues and make new professional connections at the Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association
  Annual Meeting 2026!
  
  

  • Installation of officers
  • Tickets are $70 for NPBA Members and Guests ($50 for YLS Members and Guests). Tickets for Non-Members are $90.00.
  • 2 drink tickets and heavy hors d’oeuvres are included with every registration

              contact@norfolkandportsmouthbar.org

  
  

  Exclusive Sponsor:  

  
  

  Disclaimer

  By registering for this Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) event or program you consent to being photographed, filmed and/or otherwise recorded at the event or program. By doing so, you grant to the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) rights to the release, publication or reproduction of any recorded media taken at the event or program of your appearance, voice or name for use by the Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association (NPBA) and its management team.        

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