About Us
A Century of Looking Forward
The Firm
For more than a century, McCandlish Lillard has been helping clients address today’s challenges and prepare for tomorrow’s. Building on this legacy, attorneys at McCandlish Lillard strive to provide effective and efficient legal representation that meets our clients’ needs and is consistent with the finest traditions of legal practice in the Commonwealth.
What began in 1908 as one man’s practice in a very small town called Fairfax, has become a firm of more than twenty lawyers who practice through the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Despite these changes, McCandlish lawyers have revolutionized the practice of law. Our firm holds true to the spirit of its founders by adapting to the changing needs of clients and expanding its expertise in all areas where legal needs can be filled. Our history tells the story of a century of looking forward.
Our Service Area
Where We Practice
McCandlish Lillard has epitomized the practice of law in Northern Virginia since 1908, but we also regularly practice in Maryland and Washington, D.C. We practice daily in state courts throughout the Commonwealth, particularly the courts of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William and Loudoun Counties (and included cities and towns), including the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Firm History
Our Story
F. D. Richardson Attorney At Law
The firm McCandlish & Lillard, a professional corporation, actually began with the practice of a single lawyer, Frederick Dawson Richardson (“Fred” or “F. D.”) whose professional career commenced in the small town of Fairfax in 1908…Read More
Robert J. McCandlish Jr, & F.D. Richardson
In 1930, Fred Richardson was joined in Fairfax by his young nephew, Robert John McCandlish, Jr. of Hancock, Maryland…Read More
Robert J. McCandlish Jr, & Rothwell J. Lillard
In 1954 the popular Hugh B. Marsh resigned as Commonwealth’s Attorney and joined the McCandlish firm, which then became known as Richardson, McCandlish, Lillard, Marsh & Van Dyck…Read More
The Barbour House Years
By 1965 it was evident that the firm would have to expand to reach its full potential in the boom of Northern Virginia. The younger partners urged that the firm move to a building where it could add associates, and the older partners agreed…Read More
Merger and Move to Fair Oaks Plaza
The 1980s were a time of tremendous growth in Northern Virginia. The firm was being approached by larger firms desiring to move into the Northern Virginia area. Twice the Richmond-based firm of Hunton & Williams proposed a union…Read More
ML Re-Established
The combination of the McCandlish firm and Miles & Stockbridge, while for over a decade very productive for both original firms, would run its course. By the mid-1990s the Fairfax lawyers came to believe that the regional vision which had led to the merger was no longer a top priority…Read More
The Second Century
Commencing its second century in 2008, the firm experienced change, and continued to adapt to the ever-changing needs of its clients. In doing so, it reinforced its place as a pre-eminent provider of legal services in Northern Virginia, and beyond…Read More
Giving Back
Pro Bono & Community Service
The Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct require all Virginia lawyers to “be mindful of deficiencies in the administration of justice and of the fact that the poor, and sometimes persons who are not poor, cannot afford adequate legal assistance.” McCandlish Lillard takes that directive very seriously.
We encourage, and indeed require, our attorneys to perform pro bono legal work, whether it’s serving one needy client, or helping many through our contributions to worthy projects like Legal Services of Northern Virginia, the Embry Rucker Community Shelter, or Habitat for Humanity.
Our attorneys are active in the communities in which they live and work. We are Rotarians, Lions, and Knights of Columbus. We are trustees of charitable and educational foundations, and have served on the Executive Committee of the National Capital Area Boy Scouts of America, the Council of the Virginia Historical Society, and the Arts Council of Fairfax County.
We have served on the boards of the George C. Marshall International Center and Oatlands Plantation in Loudoun County, the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, the City of Fairfax and the Fairfax County Chambers of Commerce, the Virginia Bar Association, Virginia State Bar and the Loudoun and Fairfax Bar Associations, the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia, Cherry Blossom Breast Cancer Foundation, Northern Virginia chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Salvation Army, Fair Lakes Rotary Club, the Friends of Oakton Library, Brain Injury Services, and the Dulles Area Transportation Association, among many others.
We believe community service and pro bono activities make us better lawyers and better people.
Our Relationships
Our Community Connections
