Meet Ashley
Ashley is a shareholder in the Richmond, Virginia office of Allen & Allen. She is a legal strategist and litigator who focuses her practice on complex litigation, product liability, foodborne illness, sexual assault, federal litigation, and appellate advocacy. Ashley is involved with the firm’s largest and most complex cases and works with attorneys in all of Allen & Allen’s offices to identify, analyze, and address legal issues that affect our clients’ claims.
Before joining Allen & Allen in 2014, Ashley spent ten years representing defendants and insurance companies in cases involving wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability, automobile and tractor-trailer accidents, brain injury, premises liability, and toxic exposures. Her background as a defense lawyer gives her valuable insight into how insurance companies and their litigators handle personal injury claims. This understanding is an asset to Allen & Allen clients who benefit from her working knowledge of the defense.
Ashley is an adjunct professor who teaches trial advocacy at the University of Richmond’s T. C. Williams School of Law, and a former instructor of Legal Research and Writing for the Paralegal Studies program at VCU. She is a sought-after public speaker and has given lectures nationwide on a variety of litigation topics including foodborne illness, product liability, premises liability, federal procedure, legal ethics, corporate depositions, insurance, e-discovery, trial techniques, and effective techniques for handling out-of-state litigation. She has been asked to speak by the American Association for Justice (AAJ), the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association (VTLA), the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, the Richmond Bar Association, NALA, the Richmond Paralegal Association, the Institute for Paralegal Education, and the National Business Institute.
Ashley is a member of the prestigious Boyd-Graves Conference, an invitation-only conference of the Virginia State Bar that brings together lawyers from all regions of the state specializing in different practice areas to meet and discuss ways to improve the law. Ashley is one of the youngest members of the conference, which makes recommendations to the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia General Assembly.
Ashley serves on the Board of Governors for the VTLA and is active in the legislative efforts of that organization. She is an active member of the Amicus Curiae Committee, and regularly writes briefs to the Supreme Court of Virginia, the Virginia Court of Appeals, and the federal Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals promoting justice and access to courts on behalf of injured people. She is a member and former chair of VTLA’s Continuing Legal Education Committee, Pro Bono Committee, and Women’s Caucus.
Ashley currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Greater Richmond Bar Foundation and is the former chair of the Richmond Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee. She also serves on the PTA of her children’s school. Ashley was named an “Influential Woman of Law” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly in 2022. She is a “Super Lawyer” and has been included in the “Ones to Watch” list in Best Lawyers in America since 2021.
In 2016, Ashley was on the team of Allen & Allen attorneys who obtained a $42 million settlement for three men who were seriously burned and the family of one man who was killed as a result of a workplace explosion. This recovery was the largest personal injury settlement in Virginia that year.
Ashley graduated with High Honors in the top 10 of her law school class from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from the College of William and Mary, and pursued a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh.
Before attending law school, Ashley lived and worked as an archaeologist in Mexico and the Caribbean. She is a fluent Spanish-speaker.
Court Admissions
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Supreme Court of Virginia
- Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia
Experience
- Shareholder, Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen (2021-present)
- Trial Attorney, Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen (2014-present)
- Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Richmond School of Law, (2008-present)
- Large Defense Firm (2004-2013)
Education
- J.D. with High Honors (Top 10), The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- B.A. magna cum laude, The College of William & Mary (Phi Beta Kappa)
Honors
- Go To Lawyer for Appellate Law – Virginia Lawyers Weekly (2023)
- Influential Woman of Law, by Virginia Lawyers Weekly (2022)
- Best Lawyers in America – “Ones to Watch” (2021-present)
- Virginia Super Lawyers (2019-2024)
- Top 50: Richmond Super Lawyers (2024)
- Top 100: Virginia Super Lawyers (2024)
Professional Affiliations
- American Association for Justice
- American Bar Association
- Boyd-Graves Conference
- Richmond Bar Association
- Virginia Bar Association
- Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
Community Service
- Board Member, Greater Richmond Bar Foundation
- Board Member, PTA
- Former Chair, Richmond Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee
Publications
- Sources of Coverage, Editor (2018)
- Sources of Coverage, Editor (2023)
- VTLA Journal: “Training Staff to Safeguard Confidential Client Information” (2014)
- Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, Journal of Civil Litigation Vol. 21(1):1-8: “Obtaining Summary Judgment in a Negligence Case in Virginia and the Viability of the Contributory Negligence Doctrine in Virginia”(2009)
Presentations
- Speaker, American Association for Justice National Convention, “Using Motions Successfully in Auto Cases,” July 2024
- Speaker, American Association for Justice National Convention, “Advice from a Former Defense Lawyer,” July 2023
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Torts Seminar, “Effective Motions in Limine,” May 2022.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention, “Plaintiff’s Offensive Motions and Strategies,” March 2022.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention, “Case Law Update,” March 2022.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Paralegal Seminar, “Legal Landscape in the Time of Covid – Part II,” November 2021.
- CLE Presenter, Richmond Bar Association, “Settlement Agreements,” (October 2021)
- CLE Presenter, Richmond Bar Association, “Motions in the Life Cycle of a Civil Case,” (October 2021)
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Convention, “Case Law Update,” March 2021.
- CLE Presenter, Richmond Bar Association, “Virginia Case Law Update,” May 2021.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Paralegal Seminar, “Legal Landscape in the Time of Covid,” November 2020.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Advanced Paralegal Retreat, “More Legal Ethics“ (2021).
- CLE Presenter, National Business Institute (NBI), “Personal Injury 101: Major Elements of Local Procedure,” September 2020.
- CLE Presenter, American Association for Justice (AAJ)‘s Annual Convention, Automobile “30(b)(6) Corporate Representative Depositions,” July 2020.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Convention, “Case Law Update,” March 2020
- CLE Presenter and Panelist, Strafford, “Food Poisoning and Other Foodborne Harm: Claims and Defenses” (webinar), December 2019.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Paralegal Seminar, “Federal Litigation,” November 2019.
- CLE Presenter and Panel Moderator, Richmond Bar Association’s “Updates from the Supreme Court of Virginia,” October 2019.
- CLE Presenter, Allen & Allen Annual Series, “Legal Ethics,” October 2019.
- Seminar Chair, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Advocacy Seminar, “Appellate Advocacy 101” (webinar), September 2019.
- Seminar Chair, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Advanced Automobile Litigation Retreat, “Litigating Motor Vehicle Cases in the Digital Age,” July 2019.
- CLE Presenter, Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association (WTLA) Annual Convention, “Corporate Depositions,” June 2019.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Torts Seminar, “Limited Sources of Coverage,” May 2019.
- CLE Presenter, Metropolitan Women’s Bar Association (MRWBA), “Legal Ethics,” February 2019.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyer Association’s Premises Liability Retreat, “Corporate Depositions in Premises Liability Cases,” January 2019.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyer Association’s Annual Paralegal Seminar, “Legal Ethics for Paralegals in Virginia,” November 2018.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyer Association’s Sources of Coverage Seminar, “Personal Auto Liability Coverage,” October 2018.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyer Association’s Annual Advanced Automobile Litigation Retreat, “Discovery and Technology at the Scene of a Collision,” July 2018.
- CLE Presenter, National Business Institute (NBI), “Legal Ethics: Personal Injury Bootcamp,” May 2018.
- CLE Presenter, NALA – The Paralegal Association, “Corporate Depositions – What Legal Professionals Need to Know” (webinar), March 2018.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyer Association’s Annual Convention, “Underinsured Motorist Coverage Review and Checklist,” March 2019.
- Seminar Chair, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Seminar sponsored by the Women’s Caucus, “Making Technology Work for You: Using Trial Presentation Software to Save Money and Take Your Practice to the Next Level,” December 2017.
- CLE Panelist, Georgetown Law’s 14th Annual Advanced eDiscovery Institute, “Diversity and Cooperation in Advocacy,” November 2017.
- CLE Panelist, Georgetown Law’s 14th Annual Advanced eDiscovery Institute, “Motions Practice? Don’t Just Go Through the Motions,” November 2017.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Paralegal Seminar, “Litigation Toolbox – Legal Research for Motions and Briefs,” November 2017.
- CLE Presenter, American Association for Justice’s Annual Convention, “Corporate Depositions,” July 2017.
- CLE Presenter, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Annual Convention, “Corporate Depositions in Virginia,” March 2017.
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