The board of directors of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys has named the late Roanoke attorney Walter H. Peake III the recipient of its Award for Excellence in Civil Ligation for the year. Peake died in April at 60. The award will be presented to his family at the 2019 Annual Meeting in Norfolk on October 3.
According to the citation, Peake “was a masterful trial lawyer who specialized in the defense of medical professionals. He was known not just for his keen intellect, skillful advocacy, unyielding concern for and devotion to his clients, but also for his adherence to the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and professionalism.”
Peake was often called “a lawyer’s lawyer.” The citation says his “immense legal ability and accomplishments earned him the respect and admiration of his clients, his peers, and the tribunals before whom he appeared.”
He was a founding member of the Frith Anderson + Peake law firm.
The Roanoke native graduated from Patrick Henry High and Virginia Tech. He graduated from the George Mason University School of Law and went to work for Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore before helping form his own firm in 1997.
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
