Tuesday, March 31, 10:00 a.m.–Noon ET
This program was also presented on November 21 and December 12, 2025.
| MCLE Credit: | 2.0 (Ethics: 2.0; Well-Being: 2.0) |
| Live-Interactive Credit: | 2.0 (all formats) |
| GAL for Children CE Credit: | 2.0 |
Family law can be one of the most emotionally charged areas of practice—not just for clients, but for lawyers, too. This CLE will explore strategies for dealing with unprofessional behavior from opposing counsel and GALs, including personal attacks, rude or nonresponsive conduct, and inadequate investigations. With a focus on preserving your professional integrity, protecting your client’s interests, and maintaining your mental health, this program will equip you with tools to stay grounded, communicate effectively, and respond strategically—even when others don’t play fair.
Registration Deadlines:
| Webcast: | 10 minutes prior to seminar. If you register for a webcast the day of the seminar, your e-mail receipt will include a link to launch the seminar and download the materials. |
| Telephone: | Online registration ends at 11:59 p.m. the day preceding the seminar Call (800) 979-8253 to register up to one hour prior to the seminar |
Cancellation Policy: Cancellation/transfer requests will be honored until 5:00 p.m. the day preceding the seminar. You will, however, be charged $40 if you cancel or transfer your registration to a different seminar after the link to the materials has been e-mailed by Virginia CLE®.
Full refunds or transfers are available up to two days after a webcast in the unlikely event that you experience technical difficulties.
MCLE Credit Caveat: The MCLE Board measures credits by the time you spend in attendance. If you enter a seminar late or leave it early, or both, you must reflect those adjustments accurately in the credits you report on your credit reporting form. A code will be given at the end of the seminar, which must be written on your MCLE form.
Private recording of this program is prohibited.
Can’t Attend?
E-mail distance_ed@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program is made available as an online or USB seminar.
E-mail publications@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program’s seminar materials are made available for sale.
| 10:00 | Grace Under Fire: Navigating Difficult Opposing Counsel and GALs in Family Law |
| 12:00 | Adjourn |
Andi Grace Davis, Davis Law Practice, PLLC / Roanoke
Bruce H. Russell, II, Bruce H. Russell, II, PC / Lebanon
Andi Grace Davis, Davis Law Practice, PLLC / Roanoke
Andi Davis opened her law firm, Davis Law Practice, in Roanoke in 2014, where she focuses her practice on divorce, custody, support, and representing parents in matters involving CPS. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and serves on the Board of Governors for the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section. She will also serve on the Virginia Family Law Coalition when the General Assembly reconvenes in 2026.
In addition to her legal practice, Ms. Davis is the co-founder of Senita Legal, a web application that calculates child support, spousal support, and arrearages under the Virginia Guidelines, helping streamline complex family law calculations for practitioners and families.
Ms. Davis is an active member of three CLE committees: the National AAML CLE Committee; the Virginia AAML CLE Committee; and the CLE Committee for the Virginia State Bar Board of Governors, where she serves as CLE Committee Chair. She additionally contributes to the profession through her work with the Virginia Chapter AAML Mentoring Committee.
Ms. Davis is a past recipient of the Virginia Lawyers Weekly Influential Women of Law Award, past president of the Salem Roanoke County Bar Association, and past president of the Roanoke Chapter of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association.
Bruce H. Russell, II, Bruce H. Russell, II, PC / Lebanon
Bruce H. Russell, II, has practiced law for more than twenty years, mainly in the courts of his native Southwest Virginia. In that time, he been a prosecutor, law professor, member of a small firm, and solo practitioner, and is proud of his service to his Commonwealth and community in each of these roles.
Currently, Mr. Russell has a large and diverse general practice, and represents both individuals and businesses in numerous matters, from business formation to contract disputes and beyond. In recognition of his extensive and continuing service to the bench, bar, and public, he was named the 2023 Virginia State Bar Local Bar Leader of the Year.
Mr. Russell graduated from Richlands High School, the University of Virginia (where he served on the Honor Committee and its Executive Committee as Chairman of the Bad Check Committee), and the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law. He began his legal career in Charlottesville at the turn of the century with the boutique firm of Thompson & Hagy, focusing on representing small high-tech companies, primarily start-ups. He soon returned to the hills of his youth in Southwest Virginia, pursuing an opportunity to join the Buchanan County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office as that office’s only full-time assistant. While there, he prosecuted everything from murder to the theft of fighting roosters. Shortly after arriving in Grundy, the Appalachian School of Law brought him onboard as an adjunct faculty member at the then-fledgling school.
Returning to private practice in 2003, Mr. Russell joined the law firm of Bolling & Hearl (eventually Bolling Hearl Russell), working out of Abingdon and Richlands, plus parts in-between. He established his own firm in 2009, sharing space in Lebanon with the Hall-of-Fame attorney Steve Quillen. Currently, Mr. Russell serves as President of the Russell County Bar, the 28th Circuit Criminal Defense Bar, and the Patrick Henry American Inn of Court. He is also Chairman of the Southwest Virginia Law Foundation and serves on the Board of Southwest Virginia Legal Aid. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar Council, as well as that body’s Executive Committee. Additionally, he serves on the VSB Special Committee on Bench-Bar Relations and is a faculty member of the Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Course. He is a member of the Boyd-Graves Conference.
Mr. Russell has been named a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation, and a Virginia Lawyers Weekly Leader in the Law. He is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell.
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