FAIRFAX ELDER LAW - Key Persons
Elizabeth focuses her practice in the areas of elder law, special needs planning, estate planning, guardianships, and the administration of estates. She has developed a reputation among her peers in the legal community as the "go to" person in the areas of elder law and special needs planning.
She is a Past-President and the 2011 recipient of the "Outstanding Member" award of the Virginia chapter (VAELA) of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA); a member of NAELA's invitation-only Council of Advanced Practitioners; a member of the Special Needs Alliance; and former co-chair of three different sections of the Fairfax County Bar Association: Elder Law, Wills, Trusts & Estates, and Practice Management.
For consecutive years, Elizabeth has been listed in Best Lawyers of America; Super Lawyers; Washingtonian Magazine's Top Lawyers; Northern Virginia Magazine's Top Lawyers; and Virginia Business Magazine's Legal Elite. She is a recipient of the Influential Women of Virginia class of 2012 and Leader in the Law class of 2020 by Virginia Lawyers Media (publisher of Virginia Lawyers Weekly).
A little-known fact: Elizabeth is a former professional violinist, having played with the Binghamton Symphony Orchestra and the Binghamton Pops.
Lawrence J. McClafferty is a principal with McCandlish Lillard, its President, and a member of its Executive Committee. He works out of the firm's Fairfax and Loudoun offices. Lawrence is a trial and appellate lawyer who, in recent years, has devoted much of his practice to litigation involving business torts, community associations, and fiduciary litigation, which includes will contests, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and guardianship/conservatorship actions. He lectured on fiduciary litigation at the 2016 Virginia Bar Association winter meeting.
Lawrence was part of the litigation team that obtained the largest jury verdict in the Commonwealth of Virginia for 2016, as reported by Virginia Lawyers Weekly. He is AV-rated by Martindale Hubbell and is a nine-time selection by Virginia Business magazine as one of its "Legal Elite."
He serves as Commissioner in Chancery for the Loudoun County Circuit Court and is in the midst of a six-year term as a Substitute Judge for the 20th Judicial District. He is a past president of the Loudoun County Bar Association and a member of the bars of the United States Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, as well as the Virginia State Bar, Virginia Bar Association, Fairfax Bar Association and the Loudoun County Bar Association.
Lawrence earned his B.A. degree from Boston College and his law degree from Washington and Lee University. He was born and raised in Washington, D.C., and lives in Loudoun County with his wife and daughters.
On a personal level, Melinda is a strong supporter of local philanthropy and the arts in Northern Virginia, and is a current Board member of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for Goodwin Living Foundation, and a long-time supporter and serial adopter of Lab Rescue and other animal welfare organizations.
Melinda focuses on providing holistic multi-generational income and wealth transfer tax planning advice and estate and trust services to high net worth individuals, families, and business owners. She brings a unique and diverse perspective from her work in private law practice, Big Four accounting firms, and private banking/trust services.
Melinda has over two decades of experience advising clients with regard to domestic and foreign trusts, family limited partnerships and LLCs, grantor retained annuity trusts, dynasty trusts and other wealth transfer strategies, asset protection planning, business succession and pre-sale planning, and charitable giving. She also advises fiduciaries and beneficiaries on probate and estate and trust administration, and serves as a technical expert working closely with the firm's Litigation group on estate and trust litigation matters.
As a seasoned tax and estates and trusts attorney, Melinda enjoys working with a wide range of clients to successfully protect and preserve their wealth. She has represented business owners, real estate developers, private equity partners, physicians, executives, young couples, retirees, international/expat clients and their families.
Melinda started her career at a boutique trusts and estates firm in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she developed a strong foundation in estate planning and estate and trust administration.
After completing her LL.M. in Taxation at the Georgetown University Law Center, Melinda joined the National Tax Department (Personal Financial Services group) for a Big Four accounting firm in Washington, DC, where she consulted with clients on a nationwide and global basis as a Subject Matter Specialist in the areas of income and wealth transfer tax planning.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Chairman of the Board
R. Peyton Mahaffey is the Chairman of the Board of McCandlish Lillard, having previously served as its President and Managing Partner from 2007 through 2021. Peyton has actively litigated business, corporate, commercial, and fiduciary matters on a continuing basis since 1980. He has extensive experience as a trial lawyer and lead counsel in state and federal cases, as well as arbitration and mediation. He has tried many jury and non-jury cases, written and argued many appellate briefs to the Virginia Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and been the principal attorney on many reported state and federal decisions.
Peyton has significant experience representing clients in shareholder, partner, and related business disputes. His clients have included business leaders, builders, contractors, electrical and mechanical engineering firms, architects, property managers and brokers, investments advisors, banks and medical practitioners, technology entrepreneurs, software developers, computer consultants, and real estate developers. Peyton has successfully represented local, regional and national businesses in major corporate and contract litigation; individuals, and other professionals and their practice groups in partnership disputes; and federal and state chartered banking institutions in lender liability, commercial, and other contract litigation. Peyton has litigated numerous substantial guardianship, conservatorship, and related fiduciary and estate cases. Many of Peyton's cases have involved declaratory, injunctive or other emergency relief.
Peyton has successfully brought and defended fraud, defamation, business conspiracy, will contest, fiduciary duty, limited liability company disputes, partnership dissolutions, and tortious interference with contract claims, minority shareholder oppression actions, trademark, intellectual property and trade secret issues, will and estate litigation, and suits involving non-solicitation/non-competition agreements and employer/employee rights and liabilities.
Peyton's many professional recognitions include selection in 2019 to The Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame by Virginia Lawyers Media (publisher of Virginia Lawyers Weekly), honoring attorneys on the basis of their career accomplishments, contributions to the development of law in Virginia, contributions to the bar and the Commonwealth, and efforts to improve the quality of justice in Virginia, and selection in 2016 as a "Leader in the Law" by Virginia Lawyer's Media. Peyton has been named to Virginia Business magazine's "Legal Elite" every year since its inception in 2000, and enjoys an AV-Preeminent review rating in Martindale-Hubbell (recognition for earning the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards). Other recognitions include "Top Lawyers" and "Washington's Best Legal Minds" in Washingtonian magazine; "Super Lawyers" in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Washington, D.C. area and "Top Attorneys in Business Litigation" - Super Lawyers corporate counsel editions; "Top Attorneys" in the Washington, D.C. area, "Best Lawyers in America", and "America's Most Honored Professionals - Top 1%" by American Registry; "Top Attorneys" by Richmond magazine; and being a member of the Nation's Top One Percent (1%) by the National Association of Distinguished Counsel, an organization dedicated to promoting the highest standards of legal excellence. Order of Justitia, 100 or more jury and/or bench trials and/or arbitrations to verdict and/or decision. Peyton has also been named Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; Senior Fellow (2007-21) of the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society comprised of less than one-half of one percent (0.5%) of the lawyers in the United States; Fellow of the Fairfax Bar Foundation; and Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation, an honor conferred on Virginia lawyers of integrity and character who are outstanding in their profession and in their communities.
In January 2016, Peyton was elected to and served a 3-year term on The Virginia Bar Association's Board of Governors.
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Member of the Fairfax Bar Association
Sarah Caitlyn Aviles concentrates her practice in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate administration, fiduciary representations, guardianships and conservatorships, and civil litigation.
As an estate planning attorney, Sarah advises clients on planning for family financial needs, probate avoidance, and incapacity. She has prepared hundreds of estate plans, including revocable and irrevocable trusts, wills, financial powers of attorney, advance medical directives, living wills, appointments of standby guardian, and deeds. Sarah utilizes estate tax planning, small business planning, and special needs planning, as necessary, to craft an estate plan for each client's unique financial and personal circumstances.
Sarah has also represented many fiduciaries through the complex post-death trust and estate administration process, from insolvent estates to multi-million dollar estates and trusts. Upon an individual's death, she advises trustees and executors on various issues including Federal and state estate and inheritance tax laws and post-death personal and fiduciary income tax requirements. She has guided many trustees and executors through the process of properly settling a trust or estate and distributing diverse assets, such as business interests, real property, and retirement accounts.
Sarah has represented executors from the initial steps of probating a will with the Court through the complicated probate process, handling correspondence and filings with the Commissioner of Accounts, beneficiaries and financial institutions.
She also represents prospective guardians and conservators of incapacitated adults and minors through the Court appointment and qualification process.
Sarah concentrated part of her practice in civil litigation in the Federal and Circuit Courts. She has represented many fiduciaries before the Virginia Circuit Courts in matters such as probate-related proceedings, beneficiary disputes, augmented estate claim disputes, and will and trust contests.
She has also litigated civil cases in various areas of the law, such as business, employment, real estate, construction, adverse possession, and contract law. Sarah has experience arguing cases in arbitration, mediation, and court proceedings.
Sarah received her J.D. from the William & Mary School of Law in May 2013, and her B.A. from the College of William & Mary in May 2009. While at the William & Mary School of Law, She was a published member of the William & Mary Journal of Women and the Law, Editor-in-Chief of one of the law school newspapers, and worked in the William & Mary Elder Law Clinic.
Sarah is a member of the Fairfax Bar Association and a member of the Virginia chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She is also a member of her church choir.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Attorney
- President Elect of the Young Lawyers Section
Theresa Dalmut Small is an associate attorney practicing in the areas of civil litigation, and estate planning. Theresa works primarily in the firm's Fairfax Office; however, she represents clients across Northern Virginia.
Theresa is the President Elect of the Young Lawyers Section of the Fairfax Bar Association. When away from the office, you can find Theresa-along with her husband and Australian Cattledog-either outdoors running, biking, hiking or kayaking, or in the kitchen baking or cooking a new recipe.
Theresa is a Virginia native who received her undergraduate degree from James Madison University with a focus in Mathematics and Computer Science. Upon graduation, Theresa worked as a certified paralegal where she began to develop her passion and knowledge of […]
Virginia's practice focuses on guardianships and conservatorships, estate planning, long-term care Medicaid planning, and estate administration, divorce and separation, child custody and child support.
Virginia has been in the practice of law since 2005, after she graduated from The George Washington University School of Law, and initially focused her practice on family law.
Virginia was drawn to the practice of family law because of its dynamic nature and the opportunity to work one-on-one with clients to solve their problems. Likewise, through her work in guardianships/conservatorships, estate planning, and estate administration, she is able to interact with people and assist them in solving their legal problems.
She enjoys working with clients from all walks of life. She has represented federal employees and their spouses, employees of international NGOs and their spouses, business owners, immigrants, and stay at home parents. In addition to working with clients as their attorney, Virginia also offers mediation services as part of her practice.