FACULTY
Thomas E. Spahn, McGuireWoods / McLean
Thomas E. Spahn has practiced law as a commercial litigator with McGuireWoods since graduating
magna cum laude from Yale University and receiving his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1977. He regularly advises a number of Fortune 500 companies on issues involving ethics, conflicts of interest, the attorney-client privilege, and corporate investigations. Mr. Spahn has received the Virginia Law Foundation’s highest award for Continuing Legal Education efforts; a special commendation from the Virginia State Bar “in recognition of his outstanding service to the Bar”; and the Virginia Bar Association’s William B. Spong, Jr. Professionalism Award and Walker Award of Merit. He is a Member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of both the American Bar Foundation and Virginia Law Foundation. He was also selected as the 2013 metro-Washington, DC “Lawyer of the Year” for “Bet the Company Litigation” by
The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White, Inc.). Since 1988, Mr. Spahn has spoken at more than 1,000 CLE programs throughout the United States and in several foreign countries. He has served on the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility; on the Virginia State Bar Standing Committee on Legal Ethics; as the Reporter for the Committee that drafted Virginia’s Ethics Rules; as Chairman of The Virginia Bar Association’s Professionalism Task Force and Commission on Professionalism; on the Committee that revised Virginia’s lawyer discipline rules; on the faculty for the Professionalism Course that all new Virginia lawyers attend; and on the Virginia Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee. After personally reading, summarizing, and categorizing over 1,600 Virginia Bar Legal Ethics Opinions, Mr. Spahn made his work available to the public online through his bio page on the McGuireWoods website.