FACULTY
Bevin Alexander, Bevin Alexander Law PLC / Lynchburg
Ann B. Brogan, Brogan Law / Norfolk
Stacey Rose Harris, Hirschler / Tysons
Erin Deal Johnson, Hirschler / Richmond
Faisal Moghul, Fox & Moghul—Attorneys at Law / Fairfax
Alison R. Mullins, Cipriani & Werner PC / Fairfax
Joseph Rugari, Fox & Moghul—Attorneys at Law / Fairfax
MODERATOR
Faisal Moghul, Fox & Moghul—Attorneys at Law / Fairfax
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Bevin Alexander, Bevin Alexander Law PLC / Lynchburg
Bevin Alexander is a lifetime resident of Virginia. After attending school in Charlottesville and Richmond, he graduated in 1976 from the University of Virginia with a degree in Anthropology and History, and later in 1981 from Washington & Lee University School of Law. Following a personal clerkship with Justice A. Christian Compton at the Virginia Supreme Court, he began practice in Lynchburg with the firm that became Edmunds & Williams. Some years later, he and others established the firm of Freeman, Dunn, Alexander, and others. He is now in solo practice and failing at retirement, so far.
Over the years, Mr. Alexander has focused on major civil litigation. A small city like Lynchburg offered the opportunity to become involved in many different commercial and personal injury cases. For almost 30 years, he specialized in defending medical malpractice claims. During those years, he frequently presented the annual update to the Medical Malpractice Section of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys. He also served eight years on the Judicial Inquiry & Review Commission.
Although still going to court when necessary, for the last 10 years Mr. Alexander has spent most of his time dealing with business and medical practice office matters, including employment, professional licensure, contracts, and ownership disputes. He also teaches Risk Management in an on-line Health Management doctoral program.
Ann B. Brogan, Brogan Law / Norfolk
Ann Brogan counsels owners and operators of local, closely held businesses. With over 35 years of experience in state and federal courts, she advises entrepreneurs on how to avoid legal problems and how to resolve them through negotiation, mediation, and, if necessary, litigation. Ms. Brogan comes from a banking family and has strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with an extensive understanding of financial concepts. After practicing with one statewide and two boutique law firms (Insolvency, Maritime), she became a solo practitioner in October 2022 where she serves as managing partner, legal assistant, bookkeeper, IT specialist, and janitor.
A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Ms. Brogan graduated from Davidson College and received her J.D. from Marshall-Wythe School of Law, The College of William & Mary. She is admitted to practice in Virginia and in various federal courts, including the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia; U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit; and U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Brogan worked for Southern Bell Telephone & Telegraph Company in Atlanta, Georgia. She also worked in banking and as a Congressional intern in Washington, DC, for the Honorable Lowell P. Weicker, U.S. Senator, Connecticut.
Stacey Rose Harris, Hirschler / Tysons
Stacy Rose Harris’s commercial litigation and appellate practice focuses on contract disputes and business torts, including matters related to negligence, defamation, business conspiracy, tortious interference, misappropriation of trade secrets, Lanham Act, and unfair competition. She is frequently involved in “business divorce” cases involving corporations, limited liability companies, or partnerships. She regularly appears in state and federal courts and she has a wealth of experience in the Eastern District of Virginia’s “Rocket Docket.”
Whether representing a prominent local celebrity in a partnership break-up, or defending a high-end sports car manufacturer against fraud and consumer protection act claims, Ms. Harris takes time to get to know her clients. She strives to understand her client’s businesses, which enables her to bring the best tools, strategy, and solutions to the dispute.
In her nearly twenty years of practice, Ms. Harris has obtained winning verdicts in jury trials, favorable awards in arbitration, prevailed in appeals, and negotiated creative settlements often representing her clients against formidable odds. Her colleagues describe her as tenacious, energetic, creative, and kind.
Although her most frequent role is as an advocate, she has recently started presiding over cases in arbitration. In 2021, she was invited to join the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Litigation panel as an arbitrator and panel member. Her experience as an arbitrator gives her a unique perspective from the other side of the bench, a perspective that now informs her practice as a lawyer.
Ms. Harris volunteers her time both to bar associations and to the community. She recently completed two terms of service as an elected member of Bar Council, the prestigious governance arm of the Virginia State Bar. Bar Council regularly meets to vote on rule changes, approve ethics opinions, and preside over the functioning of the bar. She uses her proficiency in Spanish to serve pro bono clients, through the Fairfax Bar Association’s Neighborhood Outreach Program, in various civil matters. Ms. Harris deeply values the opportunity to provide access to legal services to underserved members of the community.
Erin Deal Johnson, Hirschler / Richmond
Erin Johnson’s broad-based corporate practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and general corporate and commercial law matters. In M&A transactions, she works with privately held middle-market companies and their owners, ranging from individual founders to private equity firms. She regularly represents businesses across industries, in both buy-side and sell-side transactions. Her general corporate practice involves advising companies on day-to-day legal issues including key commercial contracts and other general business matters.
Faisal Moghul, Fox & Moghul—Attorneys at Law/ Fairfax
Faisal Moghul’s accomplishments in the areas of real estate and business litigation are varied and many, including his selection into the elite group of America’s Top 100 Civil Defense Litigators (2021), the Virginia Lawyers Weekly “Go-To” Business Litigation Lawyers (2023), Lawyers of Distinction (2023), and the prestigious Super Lawyers Rising Stars shortlist every year since 2016. Mr. Moghul is a prolific author whose works have received critical acclaim in both state and national media. As a regular contributor to premier legal publications like Lexis Nexis and the American Law Institute, Mr. Moghul frequently publishes practical guidance notes to educate other lawyers on cutting-edge legal issues in business law. Recently, he also co-authored a publication with the American Law Institute on “Direct vs Derivative Claims: Permitting Direct Shareholder Actions for Closely Held Corporations” (July 2022), which explores and analyzes critical issues related to recovery of damages in derivative litigation. Mr. Moghul has extensive experience in “business divorce” cases involving dissolution, valuation, and other disputes among co-owners of closely held business entities, such as limited liability companies, corporations, and partnerships. He represents both majority and minority shareholders/members/partners, and frequently counsels business owners prior to litigation, to assist them in designing and negotiating complex buyouts, sales, and division of business assets. As a former member of the American Bar Association’s Committee on LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities, moreover, Mr. Moghul has extensive experience in designing complex asset protections structures involving a combination of different business entities for high net worth individuals and executives in the real estate, technology, and retail industries.
Alison R. Mullins, Cipriani & Werner PC / Fairfax
Alison Mullins is a partner in the firm’s Fairfax, Virginia, office and focuses her practice on all aspects of construction law and civil litigation in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
Ms. Mullins primarily represents architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, and owners in technical construction industry matters. She provides clients with thorough risk analysis, evaluation, allocation, and management of business practices, in addition to assisting with the preparation and negotiation of contracts. Ms. Mullins also provides pre-claim counseling to clients. When disputes arise, she negotiates, mediates, and/or arbitrates contract enforcement issues, and works out payment plans for monetary defaults. She has tried cases before judges and juries regarding complex civil litigation, including matters involving commercial and residential construction projects.
Ms. Mullins is admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. District Court of Maryland, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of the United States.
Ms. Mullins is peer rated AV Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell for very high ethical standards. Among her many recognitions, she was named to the list of Best Lawyers in America® for Construction Litigation in 2022 and 2023 and was named a Super Lawyer in Virginia and the District of Columbia in 2021 and 2022 in the area of Construction Litigation.
Ms. Mullins is very involved in the professional community outside of the office, including serving as an adjunct professor at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, a Fellow of The Construction Lawyers Society of America, Chair of the Virginia State Bar's Construction & Public Contracts Law Section, and President-Elect of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association, State Board, among many other activities.
Prior to joining C&W, Ms. Mullins was a founding partner at Shannon Mullins & Wright LLP. Before entering private practice, she started her legal career as a contracts manager and in-house counsel at a large architectural firm in Northern Virginia. From that experience, Ms. Mullins gained unique insight and perspective on client needs, and how to meet them.
Ms. Mullins received her B.S. from Southern Connecticut State University in 2002 and her J.D. from Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island in 2005.
Joseph Rugari, Fox & Moghul—Attorneys at Law / Fairfax
Joseph Rugari is an associate at the law firm of Fox & Moghul—Attorneys at Law, where his practice focuses on business transactions and litigation matters. He has extensive experience advising small and emerging businesses on a variety of transactional matters, including entity structuring, acquisitions, sales, mergers, corporate governance and dissolution related issues. His keen insight into Virginia’s law on limited liability companies and corporations enables him to provide his clients with particularly creative solutions to complex problems. In addition, Mr. Rugari has worked on several high-stakes business partnership disputes in which he has represented both minority and majority members/shareholders. He is also the co-author of “Direct vs Derivative Claims: Permitting Direct Shareholder Actions for Closely Held Corporations” (July 2022), an ALI publication which explores and analyzes critical issues related to recovery of damages in derivative litigation.