Philip Carter Strother Founder & Partner
Complex Litigation
Related Practices
- Land Use and Zoning
- Alcoholic Beverage Control Law
- Virginia Wine Industry Practice Group
- Business Law
- Special Education
PHILIP CARTER STROTHER
Philip Carter Strother is the founder and managing partner of Strother Law Offices, PLC.
Mr. Strother has extensive experience with complex litigation. His litigation experience has been acquired in administrative tribunals, and federal and state trial and appellate courts, including the Virginia Supreme Court and the U.S. Court for Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Mr. Strother is also duly admitted and qualified as an Attorney and Counselor of the Supreme Court of the United States.
As lead counsel in three land use cases before the Virginia Supreme Court, Mr. Strother successfully represented the interests of clients in complex land use litigation. He handles a wide variety of land use and zoning transactions and has successfully represented clients before the Board of Supervisors and Board of Zoning Appeals in multiple jurisdictions in the Commonwealth.
Mr. Strother also serves as general counsel to many Virginia farm wineries. He has been instrumental in the development of legislation to promote the economic viability of the Virginia Wine Industry, including drafting legislation, testifying before General Assembly committees and serving as a participant of the Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry’s Virginia Wine Industry Study Group. He has also successfully represented clients before the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on numerous occasions.
Mr. Strother was lead counsel in JP v. Hanover Co., 447 F. Supp. 2d 553 (2006), a landmark case involving special education law. In addition, the Thirteenth Judicial District Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court for the City of Richmond selected Mr. Strother as a member of an elite team of attorneys who provide the court with expertise in the area of special education law generally and more specifically as counsel to many young people who participate in the City of Richmond Juvenile Drug Court Program. Mr. Strother served in this capacity from 2003 to 2007. He also served as the representative for the private bar as a member of the Strategic Planning Team for the Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Court to develop long term strategies for procedural consistency in the courts, which includes addressing the educational needs of Richmond’s disadvantaged youth.
Mr. Strother has been published and has lectured in numerous areas of the law.
- Virginia
- United States Supreme Court
- United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
- United States District Court, Eastern & Western Districts of Virginia
- LL.M. (environmental), The George Washington University Law School, 1999 (Graduate Honor Fellowship for academic excellence)
- J.D., Thomas M. Cooley Law School, cum laude, 1997, (Editor, TM Cooley Law Review; Editor and Founding Member, TM Cooley Journal of Practical and Clinical Law; Distinguished Student Award Recipient)
- B.S., The Love School of Business, Elon University 1991
- Philip Carter Strother, Winery and Vineyard Law (CLE materials) National Business Institute (2014)
- Philip Carter Strother & Andrew Tarne, The Grapes of Wrath: Encouraging Fruitful Collaborations Between Local Governments and Farm Wineries in the Commonwealth, 48 U.Rich.L.Rev 235 (2013)
- Philip Carter Strother & Andrew Tarne, Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Land Use and Zoning Law, 47 U.Rich.L.Rev. (page 223) (2012).
- Philip Carter Strother, Winemaking has a long history in Virginia, Fauquier Times-Democrat, 8-10-11
- Philip Carter Strother, Wine Law in Virginia: Effective Land Use Strategies for Vineyards and Wineries (conference materials) (2011)
- Philip Carter Strother & Matthew R. Farley, Annual Survey of Virginia Law: Land Use & Zoning, 44 U.Rich.L.Rev. 1 (2009)
- Philip Carter Strother, Virginia’s Stance on Third-Party Challenges to Local Land Use Decisions, 39 ELR 10104 (2009)
- Philip Carter Strother and Audrey J. Burges, Education Law Issues for Juvenile Defense Counsel and GALs for Children: Recent Developments in Special Education Case Law, Virginia CLE (Mar. 2008)
- Philip Carter Strother and Robert Jackson Allen, Will The General Assembly Unlock The Jeffersonian Dream For Virginia To Become A Leader In The American Wine Industry?, Wine Lover Magazine, (Feb. 2007)
- Philip Carter Strother, We are Stewards of a Special Land, Fauquier Times-Democrat, 12-20-06
- Philip Carter Strother and Robert Jackson Allen, Wine Tasting Activities in Virginia: Is America’s First Wine Producing State Destined to Wither on the Vine Due to Overregulation?, T.M. Cooley L. Rev. (Winter 2007)
- Philip Carter Strother and Krista M. Mathis, How VDOT’s Tourist-Oriented Directional Signs (TODS) Program Will Affect Virginia Wineries, Virginia Wine Gazette, Vol 9, No. 2 (2005)
- Philip Carter Strother, Brownfields of Dreams in the Old Dominion: Redeveloping Brownfields in Virginia, William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review (Summer 2000)
- Co-Author, Guide to Federal Brownfields Programs, Northeast-Midwest Institute (1999)
- Leasing Arrangements for Vineyards, Lecture to the Loudoun County Growers Association (March 2015)
- Philip Carter Strother, Winery and Vineyard Law, National Business Institute (October 27, 2014)
- An Overview of the Virginia Wine Industry, Presentation to the Fauquier Chamber of Commerce (May 2014)
- Serving Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Juvenile Court, Conference for Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judges (April 2012)
- Program Co-Chair & Faculty, Wine Law in Virginia: Effective Land Use Strategies for Vineyards and Wineries, Law Seminars International (2011)
- Needing More Than Doing Well: Dramatic Strategies, Objective Success, National Conference of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), Washington, D.C. (March 2009)
- Legal Issues in the Wine Industry, Northern Virginia Community College and Lord Fairfax Community College (April 2008)
- Virginia CLE: Education Law Issues for Juvenile Defense Counsel and GALs Seminar, Special Education Law Section (March 2008)
- 2007 Conference of The Virginia Branch of The International Dyslexia Association (February 2007)
- 2006 Independent Case Study on HB 1435, Preserving Agri-Tourism for the Survival and Growth of the Virginia Wine Industry, August 2006
- Charting the Course: 2005-2007 Strategic Plan, City of Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court
- CASA: The Role of the GAL, April 2003
- 17th Annual Virginia Preservation Conference: Smart Development: Strategies for Saving Endangered Properties, Sept 2002
- Hale v. Board of Zoning Appeals, 277 Va. 250 (2009)
- JP v. Hanover Co., 516 F.3d 254 (4th Cir. 2008)
- Virginians for Appropriate Rds. V. Capka, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6411 (W.D.Va. 2008)
- JP v. Hanover Co., 447 F. Supp. 2d 553 (E.D.Va. 2006)
- National Grange Mutual Ins. Co. v. Chisman2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19706 (E.D.Va. 2000)
- Jakabcin v. Town of Front Royal, 271 Va. 660 (2006)
- Capelle v. Orange County, 269 Va. 60 (2005)
- Holmes v. Dept. of Social Services, 2006 Va. App. LEXIS 17 (2006)
- Miller v. Commonwealth, 2005 Va. App. LEXIS 64 (2005)
- Attorney, Strother Law Offices (2000-Present)
- Managing Member, The Strother Group (2004-Present)
- Managing Member, Philip Carter Winery (2008-Present)
- Managing Member, Strother Family Vineyards (2017-Present)
- Steward, Valley View Farm (2018-Present)
- Member, Virginia State Bar
- Member, Richmond Bar Association
- Board of Directors, Economic Development Authority, Henrico County, Virginia (2018-Present)
- Guardian ad Litem, Richmond Juvenile Behavioral Health Docket (2015- Present)
- Master Beekeeper, Cornell University (candidate 2022)
- Master Scuba Diver, PADI, (candidate 2022)
- Advanced Open Water Scuba Diver (2020)
- Member, Sons of the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Virginia (2022-Present)
- Member, Rappahannock Bird Dog Training Club (2021-Present)
- Member, Richmond Beekeepers Association (2020-Present)
- Board of Directors, The Rosewell Foundation (2014-16)
- Chairman, Virginia Wine Council (2011-2016)
- Chairman, Fauquier Wine Council (2010-2011)
- Fellow, Royal Society of the Arts, England (2012-Present)
- Knight, Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine (2004-Present)
- Committee Chair & Den Leader, Cub Scout Pack 751
- High Adventure Leader, Boy Scout Troop 795
- JV Assistant Coach, Glen Allen Boys’ Lacrosse (2017)
- Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America