It wasn’t until Antonia Miller spent a summer working with The Land Lawyers that she realized her interest in real estate transactions and commercial business transactions was like solving complex puzzles. She admits she was fortunate to have found a fitting and agreeable career opportunity and today is grateful to be cultivating her Midwestern values in her Northern Virginia backyard.

The Land Lawyers: You work in the Real Estate Transactions and Commercial Business Transactions practice group in Arlington. What got you interested in this field of law and when did you realize that it would be your career?
Antonia Miller: If you had asked me in law school, I would have honestly said I had no idea what a Real Estate Transactions and Commercial Business Transactions attorney did, but I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work as a summer associate with Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh. During my summer with the firm, I realized that the Transactions team was a great fit for me, both personally and professionally. It may not be for everyone, but I really enjoy the challenge of drafting a complex agreement. To me it is like a puzzle. I love that no two deals are ever the same and that we are always problem solving and coming up with creative solutions to help our clients address the unique development challenges they face.

TLL: What do you enjoy most about your work?
AM: I cannot say enough good things about our clients and their influence on today’s landscape in the DMV. It is very rewarding to know that I was even a small part of some of their beautiful and beneficial projects. I truly value the opportunity to be part of the team that helps their vision for a new development become reality.

TLL: You are a Power Lunch Reading Mentor with Everybody Wins!DC and a volunteer court-appointed special advocate with the CASA program. Tell us about your role as a reading mentor and the work you do with CASA.
AM: I just started the Power Lunch Reading Mentor Program this past winter and for 50 minutes every other week I have the privilege of turning my attention from reviewing and drafting contracts and complex development agreements to reading Fly Guy and Berenstein Bears. I think I look forward to it more than my mentee does. The CASA program allows me to appear before judges in Arlington and Alexandria and advocate for the best interest of vulnerable children and families in the community. I like to joke that even though I am an attorney, I am only ever in court through my volunteer work. What I really value about my involvement with both programs is that they give me an opportunity to interact with members of my community I might not otherwise get a chance to meet in my work life or personal life.

TLL: Virginia’s Land Sense, the firm’s monthly newsletter, will debut a new column in this issue. Can you tell us about it?
AM: There are so many members of our firm who are leaders in our community and are involved with so many great programs and organizations. I wanted to give them a chance to be recognized for their involvement and educate others about various opportunities to get involved in the community. Walsh Colucci encourages its attorneys to be involved because it recognizes the value of having attorneys that are well-rounded people who make time to give back and engage with their community.

TLL: When you are not working on contracts and closings, reading to students, or writing about The Land Lawyers work in the community, how do you like to spend your spare time?
AM: I am a huge sports fan. I also have a love/hate relationship with running. My husband and I also recently bought a house so on a nice day you can probably find me doing some yard work. I think it is the Midwesterner in me!

TLL: What’s your favorite meal?
AM: My grandmother’s homemade pasta and pasta sauce. It was a tradition in our family to always have a bowl of pasta at Thanksgiving sitting right next to the turkey. No one ever went hungry!

TLL: Why do you think Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh is a great place to work?
AM: The people. Not just our wonderful clients, but also the attorneys, paralegals, and staff. What initially attracted me to the firm was that I knew employees stayed for the long term. I knew I wanted a firm that allowed people to grow and develop and made them want to stay, and I am glad to report that is exactly what I have found here at Walsh Colucci. My family lives in the Midwest so I am lucky to have so many co-workers that have become like family to me.

TLL: Thank you, Antonia!

Source: Susan Lynch

A number of Land Lawyers employees grew up in Pittsburgh, and legal assistant Kim Follin happens to be one of them. If it wasn’t for a childhood friend, another Pittsburgh transplant, who suggested she might be happier working for a group of great land use attorneys and planners, Kim might still be working for the FBI.

Kim moved to Northern Virginia when she was 18 to work in the human resources department at the FBI, a job she describes as “so not exciting.” If it hadn’t been for the urging of a close childhood friend to apply for an admin assistant job with The Land Lawyers, Kim’s knack for putting together exemplary land use application packages and affidavits might have never been discovered.

Kim earned both associate and bachelor’s degrees in business and, although she holds an advanced degree in elementary education, she wouldn’t trade her years working alongside Senior Land Use Planner Elizabeth Baker for a classroom. Someday, after she retires, maybe. For today, Kim is content to be a Power Lunch reading mentor with Everybody Wins! DC and a legal assistant who is fervent and fastidious when it comes to preparing land use application packages, affidavits, disclosures, and legal notices.

And that’s not all.

The Land Lawyers: What is your role with the firm?
Kim Follin: My role is an important and integral aspect of the applications that are filed on behalf of our clients. Fairfax County is very strict in its requirements pertaining to affidavits, proffer signature authority proof, and legal notices. Alexandria and Arlington have strict legal notice requirements and disclosure requirements. All have very specific deadlines. Any one of these not done on time, or with an error, could result in an application being deferred. I strive to never let this happen. If I do my job well, and virtually seamlessly, that means the attorneys and planners I work with do not have to worry about these requirements and can concentrate their efforts on the important aspects of working with the County staff on other parts of the application process and approval. I’ve been doing this for 18 years and it’s like a jigsaw puzzle. I know all the pieces of the puzzle and how to put them together.

TLL: What do you enjoy most about being a legal assistant with The Land Lawyers?
KF: My job keeps me on my toes because I am always working ahead of deadlines. Each successful zoning application makes my job that much more rewarding. I really enjoy what I do and I enjoy the people I work with, especially our clients, other consultants, and the County and City staff.

TLL: You are busy from the time you arrive at work until the time you leave. So, tell us, what do you like to do in your spare time?
KF: I have always loved working with kids, which is one reason I pursued a Masters in education. Being part of the Power Lunch reading mentor program and seeing my mentee improve her skills every week, and that smile when she really comprehends what she is reading, is priceless. I’m also a huge Nationals fan, perhaps even more so than my husband. Nothing beats watching the Nats pull off a “Curly W.” I like to bike into work but don’t do it often enough. I do take spin classes with an instructor who plays great music and knows how to motivate the class. My husband and I really enjoy taking long walks with our dogs. They are part of our family and we have actually met many new friends walking them. Another thing we really love to do is go to concerts. We’ve taken the Rock Legends Cruise three times and are already booked on next year’s cruise! On this past year’s cruise we saw 22 shows in four days—it was incredibly fun!

TLL: What is your favorite band?
KF: There’s no way I can name one. I love Foreigner, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Eagles, Heart, Adele, Maroon 5, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Cher, the Legwarmers, Garth Brooks, Devon Allman, and of course the Rolling Stones! I do have a favorite song: “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves.

TLL: Are you going to any concerts this summer?
KF: We just saw Harry Connick, Jr., and the Dixie Chicks and plan to see Paul McCartney, Pat Benatar, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and the Zac Brown Band. Earlier this year we saw Bruce Springsteen and Garth Brooks.

TLL: Is there any place in the world or universe you most like to visit?
KF: Last year I went to Paris and just loved it—the city, its history, the culture, and the people. There is no other place like it in the world and I would love to go back again someday.

TLL: Do you have a hero or heroine?
KF: My heroine is my friend and former mentor Joni. She is an amazing individual who taught me to work hard, be precise, always care, and smile often. She encouraged me to get my college degree and I returned the favor a few years back when I tutored her in chemistry. She was in her 70s then, and she passed the class!

TLL: What’s your favorite meal?
KF: Chicken fajitas and swirls at Uncle Julio’s.

TLL: Why do you think Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh is a great place to work?
KF: No two days are exactly alike and no two zonings applications are identical, so I’m always challenged. The people who work here are smart, articulate, hardworking, good at what they do, and have cool personalities. The land use process is ever evolving and The Land Lawyers not only make a difference at work but in the communities where they live with their participation in many charitable causes. They truly care about what they do and the people who work for them, and it shows. Many of my colleagues have been here as long as I have, and some a lot longer.

TLL: Thank you, Kim!

Source: Jessica Pfeiffer

Growing up in Woodstock, Virginia, in the 1980s, Chuck was certain of three things: the nearest town to go shopping was Winchester, 30 miles away; he would either become a doctor or a lawyer; and no matter where he went to college or established his career, he would always return to his roots.

Once he decided to pursue a career in law, Chuck’s toughest decision was what practice area to focus on. He had always been interested in real estate development, finance and business matters so after graduating from Hampden-Sydney with a B.A., in Political Science, Chuck decided to take a few accounting classes. He graduated from George Mason University’s School of Management in 2004, earning a B.S. in Accounting and soon after passed the CPA exam. He continued on, and in 2007, he earned a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. But that was not enough for Chuck. This past year, he earned an LL.M (Masters of Laws) in Taxation from Georgetown University, graduating with honors and distinction. Today, Chuck leads the firm’s tax, trust & estates practice out of the firm’s Winchester office, and divides his time between the Prince William, Leesburg and Arlington offices.

We talked to Chuck this month and asked him to tell us more about his practice, what other degrees he is planning to earn, and when, if ever, does he sleep.

The Land Lawyers: Your degree in accounting proved to be an essential component to your legal practice. Did you ever consider practicing as a CPA?
Chuck McWilliams:  Yes, I actually practiced in public accounting for a while and was a staff accountant with Beers & Cutler, PLLC (now Baker Tilly) where I provided tax, audit, and advisory services for large law firms, accounting firms, and professional groups all over the United States. After law school, I became an associate at Owen and Truban, PLC, where I focused on complex estate, tax, business, corporate, and advisory matters. My local client base consisted of high-net-worth individuals, small businesses, farms, and charities in the Shenandoah Valley. It was the right decision because it applied to both disciplines and my expertise.  In 2005 through 2007, I had clerked for The Land Lawyers; five years later they offered me a position. The opportunity allowed me to establish the firm’s Estate Planning practice, and to open a fourth office in Winchester. Although I do a lot more driving these days, it was a great decision.

TLL: Since joining The Land Lawyers, you earned an LL.M and a Certificate in Real Estate Planning from Georgetown University, and were recently admitted to practice in the U.S. Tax Court, and you were admitted to the District of Columbia Bar and the West Virginia Bar. Do you sleep?
CMW: I don’t, but that’s not the reason why. My wife and I just welcomed our first baby, a daughter, born on February 15.

TLL: Babies will do that. Tell us more about the firm’s Estate Planning practice group.
CMW: I get the privilege of having a diverse practice and working with a wide variety of folks – from small to large business owners, entrepreneurs, farmers, doctors, engineers, and individuals concerned about their financial future– it’s never the same from one day to the next, which is part of what I love about the practice.  Though much of my work does focus on estate, tax and wealth planning, another large segment of my practice involves setting up new businesses, helping those businesses expand, improving their operations, and eventually selling or otherwise transitioning the businesses to other family members.

TLL: Outside of your practice, you conduct education courses for accounting firms, banks, and investment companies and their clients.
CMW: Yes, in fact I’m working on a class for the Trust Department at a large regional bank right now.  The goal of that class will be two-fold.  First, we’ll discuss and develop ways our clients can plan for uncertain economic times; and second, we’ll discuss some popular succession planning tools that can help their clients transition their business to the next generation in a tax-efficient manner before the IRS (or a new President) eliminates those options.

TLL: You’ve written a number of articles for Virginia’s Land Sense, and were recently awarded an honorable mention in the 2015 Mary Moers Wenig Student Writing Competition. Is it possible to tell us about your paper, “Constitutional Challenges to State Taxation of Non-Grantor Trusts” in a paragraph?
CMW:  As our society becomes more mobile the issue of when a trust is subject to taxation at the state level becomes very important.  For some of my larger clients – at least the ones that are not tied down to a physical business with significant hard assets – there are some great planning opportunities available.  I’m oversimplifying this a little bit, but imagine if you could set up an irrevocable trust in Florida, fund the trust with investment assets (a stock portfolio, for example), and have that trust be taxed as a resident of Florida – which has no state income tax – while you get to live in Virginia or some other state.  A Virginia resident would avoid 5.75% in taxes on the income earned by those assets. That’s a huge savings when the trust has significant income! As you might expect, some states don’t appreciate this maneuver; my article focuses on where this strategy works, where it doesn’t, and what states attempt to block these transactions in ways that may be subject to Constitutional challenges.

TLL: You have written and presented on basic estate planning in the community. Where can our subscribers catch your next presentation or find your articles?
CMW:  Well, I don’t have any public presentations scheduled at the moment, but I’m happy to meet with individuals, groups and even communities as a whole to discuss their planning needs. In the past I’ve done presentations for retirement communities, churches, private schools, museums, and for numerous banks.  If you are interested in having me speak with your group, send me an email.

TLL: You keep yourself busy and on top of the latest regulations. What do you do for fun?
CMW: Now that I have a young daughter, I spend most of my free time playing with her and taking her on walks (well, I walk, she rides in the stroller). She’s also been the youngest person in attendance at four steeplechase races this year, and her mother expects her to be on a pony by this time next year, but I’m not encouraging that one. Otherwise, I’m usually skiing during the winter or fishing during the summer, and I also spend time working with several local charities.  I recently worked on the fundraising committee for the Valley Health Cancer Center Campaign, and I’ve also joined the Board of Directors for the Lord Fairfax Community College Foundation.  In fact, I’ll spend much of tonight meeting scholarship applicants and listening to their presentations to determine who will get a year of free tuition thanks to one of the school’s generous donors.

TLL: Is there any place in the world, or universe, you would most like to visit?
CMW:  Though I’ve done quite a bit of traveling, there are a few places still on my bucket list.  I would love to see the Aurora Borealis, so my wife and I are hoping to plan to trip to Iceland in the next few years.  I also want to spend some time in South America –Patagonia in particular – and after those trips are out of the way I really want to head back to Hawaii to explore the rest of the islands.  If I’m lucky I’ll catch a snow fall at the peak of Mauna Kea and get to be one of the few people who have actually skied in Hawaii.  I tried that a couple years ago and though it was quite cold up there the snow did not cooperate.

TLL: What’s the best thing about becoming a dad?
CMW:  Everything. It’s been an amazing experience thus far, and I’m amazed every day by how much my wife is able to accomplish while caring for our daughter.  Though it’s a little scary, I really look forward to my daughter becoming more mobile so we can get out of the house and do more together, and I am hopeful those first words will come soon too!

TLL: What’s your favorite meal?
CMW:  I hate to say it, but anything involving carbs.  Pizza, pasta, corn, rice – most anything unhealthy, although I do love a good salad from time to time.

TLL: Why do you think Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh is a great place to work?
CMW:  The firm has the best atmosphere of anywhere I’ve ever worked. Everyone is friendly and gets along great. It is genuinely a big group of nice, intelligent people – any of whom I would be happy to hang out with outside of work – who are all happy to help if you have questions or simply want to bounce an idea off them.

TLL: Thank you Chuck.

Source: Susan Lynch

She has only ever lived in Northern Virginia but, as a young girl, Kelly had her sights set on Hollywood. It was her grandmother, though, who planted her family’s roots in Virginia and directed Kelly to a more practical career path.

Kelly’s grandmother worked as a legal secretary for Simmons and Colburn, just across the street from the firm’s Arlington office where Jerry’s Subs now stands. Kelly, the firm’s billing coordinator, works with our attorneys and clients, and manages the day-to-day accounting, reporting, and billing. She learned about the job opening not from her grandmother, but from Jennifer Trumble, a friend for more than 20 years.

The Land Lawyers: How long have you been with The Land Lawyers, Kelly?
Kelly Pelletier: I have worked for the firm for more than 15 years. I learned about the position from Jennifer and asked if I could interview. The rest, as they say, is history. Before I came to Walsh Colucci, I worked in the billing department at a towing company for four years. That was an adventure. In the towing industry, most of our clients weren’t calling with billing questions. They were pretty angry with me for towing their cars!

TLL: The firm recently rolled out an electronic billing system. How is that going?
KP: It’s going really well. We converted to a completely new billing system this past November. There have been some struggles—mostly getting familiar with the differences from our old system to the new one—but all in all, it has been relatively smooth. Everyone has been very patient with us since we basically had to relearn how we do everything. This system has made the many facets of the billing process much more efficient for us and that has allowed us to provide better, faster service to our clients. We are still learning new things every day, but it was definitely the time and the right choice. The improvements allow me to do my job more efficiently, and that’s best for our clients, too.

TLL: Aside from knowing a lot about bookkeeping, you know a lot about social media, especially Twitter. The premise is that you have to be clever in 140 characters or less, right?
KP: I have been on Twitter since 2009. I really didn’t know much about it, but thought I’d give it a try. Some people are clever in 140 characters, but some people will just tweet things like, “I wish I had a donut.” I like Twitter because I get a lot of information quickly. I follow newscasters and traffic reporters, but find Twitter especially helpful during football games. I have been a Redskins fan all my life. I follow the sportscasters that Tweet live from the sidelines at the games. That allows me to get information about injuries, penalties, fouls, and touchdowns immediately so that I can retweet it, sometimes before it’s announced on TV.

TLL: How many Twitter followers do you have?
KP: Right now, 1,213. It’s not terribly hard to gain followers. It helps if you understand “Twitter etiquette”—follow back the people who follow you. Almost all of my followers are Redskins fans, but I do have one “celebrity” follower: former Redskins tight end Rick “Doc” Walker. Of course, I also follow @thelandlawyers.

TLL: We don’t need to ask, then, who your favorite team is.
KP: Definitely not. I have been a Redskins fan the majority of my life. I remember as a child playing at my grandmother’s house on Sundays with my whole family yelling and cheering during football games. The Redskins have always been a part of my life.

TLL: How do you think the Redskins will do this year?
KP: Hmmmm. I am cautiously optimistic.

TLL: What part of the world, or universe, would you most like to visit?
KP: I have always loved the beach. I have been going to Nags Head with my family since I was a baby. It’s a tradition that I have carried on with my son. I would really love to visit Turks and Caicos. One of these days I’ll get there.

TLL: What do you like to do in your spare time?
KP: Obviously, I love watching football. I also really enjoy spending time with my family and friends, walking my dog, listening to music, and playing darts.

TLL: Do you have a hero or heroine?
KP: I don’t really have a hero or heroine, but I do admire my grandmother and mother for being strong women and great role models. Tom Solak, the firm’s administrator until he retired, continues to be a good friend and is one of the most genuine and kind people I know. And there is someone in the public eye that I can’t leave out: Joe Gibbs, for taking the Redskins to eight playoffs, four NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowls.

TLL: What’s your favorite meal?
KP: Anyone who knows me knows that I am quite a picky eater. Whenever I go out to lunch with co-workers, they know their choice of restaurants is limited. My tastes are just simple; filet mignon, baked potato, and salad.

TLL: Why do you think Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh is a great place to work?
KP: It’s a great place to work for many reasons! It may sound cliché, but it’s the people. They are a huge reason why it’s a great place. It’s evident, too, because many of the employees have worked here for years and that makes it feel like family. Everyone pitches in to help when help is needed and that allows us to provide our clients with the best service around.

TLL: Thanks, Kelly.

Source: Terri Motley

Although she was born in Richmond, Christine’s father’s job as an internal auditor for DuPont required the family to move around some. By the time she entered high school, her family was settled in Delaware. Christine attended college at the University of Delaware in Newark, where, during an urban studies course, the director of planning for the City was a guest speaker.

Christine was majoring in political science at the time, but after listening to Newark’s Director of Planning, she added a minor in urban studies to her curriculum. Her career in planning didn’t get off the ground right after graduation. She spent a year in Atlanta as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer—the domestic counterpart to the Peace Corps—then a year and a half with the Federal Aviation Association training to be an air traffic controller. Here’s how Christine explains it.

The Land Lawyers: What made you reconsider a career in planning?
Christine Gleckner: It was after I “washed out” of air traffic control training. I decided to enroll in graduate school at Virginia Tech to pursue urban planning and got my first job with the Loudoun County Planning Department. I worked there for 15 years in various positions before becoming a private sector planner. I landed at Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh in 2002.

TLL: You’ve been with The Land Lawyers almost 15 years now. You’ve been quite involved and committed to Loudoun County since graduate school.
CG: I moved to Loudoun for the opportunity with the County and got involved almost immediately. I was Employee of the Year—for spearheading the automated land development application tracking system, which still is in use. I got involved with Leadership Loudoun because it was an opportunity to participate in a leadership development program, which likely led to my serving on the Waterford Foundation Board. I never left Loudoun County and live in the town of Purcellville.

TLL: Spending three and a half years in two diverse settings before deciding to return to graduate school must have reinforced it was the right career path for you. What do you enjoy most about your role as a planner?
CG: What has been enjoyable throughout my career as a planner is the challenge of finding the right balance between the urban areas of eastern Loudoun County and preserving the rural and scenic character of western Loudoun County.

TLL: Tell us about the projects you are working on now.
CG: I am close to finishing a rezoning for a mixed-use project in Leesburg’s Crescent Design District, and an infill residential project in downtown Leesburg’s Old and Historic District. Other than those two, I am working on a variety of Leesburg and Loudoun applications, having inherited Bill Keefe’s work in Lansdowne among other projects of his. (Author’s note: Bill Keefe retired from the firm in February after 15 years as a Land Use Planner in our Leesburg office.)

TLL: You have a history of community involvement. Tell us about the Waterford Foundation and the Loudoun Museum. You were a former board member for both.
CG: I am now completing another three-year term on the Waterford Foundation board of directors. The mission of the foundation is to preserve the Waterford National Historic Landmark, which received the highest designation the federal government confers—on par with Mount Vernon and Monticello—for the well-preserved historic village plus its surrounding rural landscape. I have been able to contribute to this mission using my background in planning.

TLL: What do you like to do in your spare time, Christine?
CG: I prefer talking about my family rather than about myself! I live with my partner, previously a sound engineer on Broadway, who gladly left New York City to live in Virginia. He is a lifelong avid Civil War buff and has been able to pursue his passion for American history as a licensed tour guide in the District and as a tour narrator at Arlington National Cemetery and, of course, at Civil War sites.

My son and his wife live in Blacksburg, where he works at Rackspace, a cloud computing support company, but don’t ask me what he does because I don’t understand it. Even though he lives in Blacksburg, he isn’t a graduate of Tech but a proud graduate of the University of Mary Washington.

My daughter and her husband live in Baltimore and, like me, are Fightin’ Blue Hens. They graduated from the University of Delaware with degrees in civil engineering. She is a transportation engineer for Sabra Wang in Columbia, Maryland. Our fields overlap and we can talk shop with one another—unlike my son and me.

TLL: What part of the world, or universe, would you most like to visit?
CG: I would be interested in doing far more travel than my time and budget permit; however, I am trying to visit the major national parks in the United States and Canada. Not related to that goal, I am taking a trip to the Netherlands and Belgium in April.

TLL: Do you have a hero or heroine?
CG: Yes, several – Eleanor Roosevelt, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela.

TLL: Why do you think Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh is a great place to work?
CG: Great people to work with who work as a team—not in competition—on a variety of interesting and professionally challenging projects. The clients have been great to work with as well.

TLL: Thank you, Christine!

Source: Susan Lynch

Accountant Ed Encarnacion adjusted to the firm’s culture within hours of starting his job. But before he accepted the position, he wasn’t sure if he’d be working for attorneys like Matlock, Claire Huxtable, or Saul Goodman, or if his days would play out like an episode of L.A. Law or Ally McBeal. (Disclaimer—Ed acknowledges he watches way too much television.)

The Land Lawyers: As an accountant, you’ve worked for a number of companies in various industries over the past 19 years but never at a law firm.
Ed Encarnacion: That’s correct. I have worked for many industries including large truck manufacturing, medical device start-ups, marketing, travel, and home loans.

TLL: You landed at The Land Lawyers. Did you solve the equation?
EE: In terms of work-life-play balance, so far, yes! After being with a company in Alexandria for seven years, working long hours and weekends, I decided to “retire” for a few months and get my priorities straight.

TLL: What are your responsibilities at Walsh Colucci and how are they different from what you did at Vacation.com?
EE: Pretty much everything related to accounting. It’s almost the same job as compared to my old company except here I am only dealing with one company whereas there I was dealing with seven. Also, an added responsibility will be performing “Baby Got Back” at every Holiday Party.

TLL: It was an easy transition for you then?
EE: In a sense, yes. As I was being introduced around the office my first day, I noticed that everyone was genuinely nice. That was the first big difference. A friend of mine told me to have an accounting joke ready to use as an icebreaker (What’s the difference between accountants and lawyers? Accountants actually admit they are boring.), but I didn’t have to use it. What took some time getting used to was legal jargon and terminology—land use, zoning, complex commercial business, trusts, estate planning, eminent domain. I’d heard these terms before, but I’ve never actually worked with them. And, the acronyms—CLE, NVBIA, SCC, NAIOP, VBA—made me think of KFC, BLTs, and PB&J.

TLL: Needless to say, you made the right decision to work for Walsh Colucci?
EE: I can honestly say I made the right decision. The people here are nice and as someone who processes the checks, it is nice to be a part of a company that is involved in the communities where they work and abundantly support so many causes and charities.

TLL: You’ve found a good work-life balance here. What do you like to do in your spare time then?
EE: Going to sporting events of my favorite teams: Redskins, Wizards, Capitals, Nationals, Orioles, and Virginia Tech. I also enjoy hanging out with my three nieces who are currently 5, 3, and 1. The best part about being an uncle is that I never have to say “no” and after four or five hours of watching them, I just hand them back.

TLL: Do you have a favorite meal?
EE: A perfectly cooked New York strip steak, or pretty much anything that involves beef, chicken, pork, venison, fish, etc. Let’s just say I will not be eating at a tofu or vegan restaurant anytime soon.

TLL: Do you have a hero? Heroine?
EE: Cal Ripken, Jr. Anyone who can go to work, in his case play baseball, for 2,632 consecutive games is just incredible.

TLL: Thanks, Ed. Speaking for all The Land Lawyers, we are really happy you’re here, too.