Stephanie Grana, W’90 and L’93 (L), president of the Virginia State Bar and Benjamin Leigh R’91 and L’96 (R), president of the Virginia Bar Association.
Stephanie Grana, W’90 and L’93 (L), president of the Virginia State Bar and Benjamin Leigh R’91 and L’96 (R), president of the Virginia Bar Association.

Leading the Bar

March 2, 2023
Two double spiders lead Virginia’s two most prominent bar associations.

Scanning the legal landscape of Virginia, one will undoubtedly find Richmond Law Spiders in many positions of leadership. We see this clearly right now—a moment when two double spiders lead two of the most prominent bar associations in the state.

Last June, Stephanie Grana, W’90 and L’93, of Cantor Grana Buckner Bucci was installed as the 84th president of the Virginia State Bar (VSB), the commonwealth’s mandatory governing body through which lawyers and judges in Virginia are licensed to practice. Grana made history becoming the organization’s first Hispanic—and only the seventh female—president in its history. Her year-long term runs through July 1.

Six months later, in January 2023, Benjamin Leigh R’91 and L’96, of Troxell & Leigh, PC was installed as president of the Virginia Bar Association (VBA), the commonwealth’s largest statewide voluntary bar organization. His term will last one year.

“Ben and I are citizen lawyers,” said Grana. “We both practice law and serve our clients well. But we also choose to serve the legal community and the public at large. We took the values that we learned at Richmond Law and are both enjoying gratifying and lasting legal careers, family lives, and friendships.”

“The mutual respect from our [Richmond Law] background serves both our organizations well,” Leigh agreed. “There is a first-rate leader of the other bar and even when there are differences, that leader is going to look for the best way forward.”

While VSB and VBA are the two largest, Virginia boasts more than 100 local, statewide, and specialty bar associations.

“The Spider web across the Commonwealth has other great people we can call on,” Leigh said. “It is a very special thing.”