About the Firm

Michie, Hamlett, Lowry, Rasmussen & Tweel, P.C., has represented clients for over 50 years in the courts of Virginia in commercial, domestic and personal injury litigation. In addition to a strong litigation practice, the firm has represented and advised clients on matters ranging from trusts and estates to complex commercial transactions. Recently the firm was recognized by Virginia Business magazine which honored Ed Lowry, Bruce Rasmussen and Ron Tweel as lawyers considered among the best lawyers in Virginia based on a survey conducted with the assistance of The Virginia Bar Association. Ed Lowry, a recent past president of the Virginia State Bar, practices primarily in the area of corporate law and commercial litigation. Bruce Rasmussen, recent past president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and current president of the Southern Trial Lawyers Association, represents people seriously injured by defective products, medical malpractice, tractor trailer accidents and other acts of negligence. Ron Tweel is a member of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and a past chair of the Family Law sections of both the Virginia State Bar and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association. Ron Tweel's clients include individuals who are prominent both locally and nationally.

The firm was founded in 1946 by Thomas J. Michie who was mayor of Charlottesville and later a judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. His son, Thomas J. Michie, Jr., was Chairman of the Charlottesville School Board and a member of the Virginia General Assembly for 20 years, serving first as a member of the House of Delegates and later as a state Senator. Bobby Taylor, a member of the firm from 1958 to 1976, was also president of the Virginia State Bar in 1958.

Over the years Thomas J. Michie, Jr.'s, practice has been largely in the area of trusts and estates. The majority of the firm's trust and estate work is now handled by Jim Cox who came to Charlottesville by way of Duke University and the University of Virginia which is located in Charlottesville. For the past several years Jim Cox has been the editor of Virginia Trusts and Estates, the primary reference for trust and estate work in Virginia.

Complex business transactions have been successfully concluded by the firm's lawyers who practice in the areas of corporate and commercial law. Often working with counsel from out of state and occasionally out of the country, the firm has assisted clients in the start-up of new businesses, financing for commercial and real estate development, corporate acquisitions, and securities matters.

In the area of personal injury, Gary Kendall represents workers and their family members who have been seriously injured by asbestos exposure at work or by exposure to asbestos fibers brought home on the clothes of family members. Gary Kendall has been general counsel to the Virginia State AFL-CIO for many years, and has served as chairman of the Labor Liason Committee of the Association of Trial Lawyers or America (ATLA). In connection with his asbestos practice, Gary has served on the Trust Advisory Committee in the Celotex bankruptcy which addresses issues involving asbestos injury claims from throughout the United States against Celotex, a manufacturer of asbestos products.

The firm represents clients in the courts of Virginia ranging from the coal fields of southwest Virginia to Roanoke, Charlottesville, Richmond, Williamsburg and Norfolk in the eastern part of the state, and Alexandria and Fairfax County in the north. To aid in this statewide practice the firm has an office located at 120 Day Avenue in Roanoke overlooking the federal court building. The firm's main office is located at 500 Court Square in Charlottesville where it overlooks Albemarle County Circuit Court.

The firm's 17 lawyers have limited the focus of their practices to certain areas and this is reflected in the organization of the firm into three practice groups - the commercial group, the personal services group and the personal injury group.

The Commercial Group handles corporate and commercial matters, including commercial litigation.

The Personal Services Group handles family law matters including divorce and custody disputes, trust and estate matters and real estate transactions.

The Personal Injury Group represents people who are seriously injured by defective products, defective drugs and medications, medical malpractice, tractor trailer and auto accidents, structural collapses and other incidents in which another person's failure to use ordinary care for the safety of others has caused serious injury or death.

For consultation or representation, please call 1-800-451-1288 in the United States. Outside the United States, please call 434-951-7200.