VADA Member Spotlight

This month’s spotlighted VADA member is Stewart Pollock of Moran Reeves Conn in Richmond.  Stew currently serves as a member of VADA’s Board of Directors.  Before joining the Board, he served as Chair and Vice-Chair of VADA’s Product & Toxic Torts Section.  Stew is a graduate of the University of Virginia and the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

1.         Where were you born?

Charlottesville, Virginia but I grew up in Rockingham County.

2.         Tell us a little about yourself.  Spouse? Children? Pets?

My wife and I are celebrating our ten-year wedding anniversary next month, although we’ve been together since 2006. Our kids are two and five years old. We also have an 11 year old mutt – a Richmond Street Dog Special.

3.         What type of law do you practice?

I have a broad litigation practice. I handle mostly business litigation (including breach of contract, fraud claims, and intracorporate disputes) along with complex products liability cases. I seek out the weird cases because I enjoy the challenge of untangling a complicated mess.

4.         How long have you been a member of VADA?

I joined VADA in 2018 when I started at MRC.

5.         What have you enjoyed most about your time in VADA?

The best part of VADA is having a bank of contacts who I can bounce ideas off. That’s particularly helpful when I come across an issue or problem that is novel to me, but someone else has already spun their wheels on. By leveraging VADA’s brain trust, I can deliver faster, more efficient, and better advice to my client than trying to solve each new problem on my own from scratch.

6.         What do you like most about practicing law?

I love that I get paid to learn new things – whether it’s emerging case law, a new statute, or a diving into the substance of complicated engineering or medical issue that might only come up in that one case.

7.         What was your favorite subject in school?

History.

8.         What is your favorite food and drink?

Lasagna or brisket. Coffee in the morning, water all day, whiskey in the evening.

9.         What is the best book you have ever read?

I recently read The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi and I’ve been recommending it to everyone I can. If it’s well received, I’d follow up with Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler.

10.       What has been your most meaningful accomplishment so far?

I’m incredibly proud of my two young children. While there’s a lot to brag about, I’m particularly proud of how empathetic they are. They rush to care for each other when they’re hurt, help strangers, and welcome new students to their classes. If I’m responsible for any of their caring nature, it’s my biggest personal accomplishment. I also won an eating competition by finishing a five-pound burrito.

11.       What is your favorite travel spot?

Sayulita, Mexico. My wife and I honeymooned there and we’ve been back a few times. It’s a beautiful, quaint beach town on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.

12.       What is at the top of your bucket list?

Greece.

13.       If you were to walk into my office, one of the first things you would notice would be …

A Steelers football signed by RT Troy Fautanu, our 2024 first round draft pick. My best friend and I met him at Steelers Training Camp this year in Latrobe, PA.

14.       What was the make and model of your first car?

A 1997 Ford Taurus. I have a lot of fun memories of that car breaking down in inconvenient places while road tripping with friends.

15.       What is your favorite TV or movie quote?

“Patience is not one of my virtues.” Simon Phoenix, Demolition Man (1993).

16.       What is your favorite joke?

Why don’t seagulls fly over the Chesapeake Bay? Because then they’d be bagels.

17.       When I am not in the office, I like to …

Take my family to the Chesapeake Bay.

18.       If I wasn’t practicing law, I would be …

Growing a long beard and disappearing onto a farm somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

19.       What is your biggest pet peeve?

The way that lawyers get away with misconduct because it would be “uncivil” to call out their bad actions and hold them accountable. 

20.       What is your definition of success?

Professionally, I define success as anything that results in (a) me delivering good news to the client or (b) opposing counsel delivering bad news to their client.

Personally, I’d consider my life a success if my epitaph were to say I was an amazing dad, a great husband, and a pretty good lawyer.