Rebecca Janet Wade
Partner
703-836-9030 Email
Office: 500 Montgomery St., Suite 575, Alexandria, VA 22314
Partner Rebecca Janet Wade has spent years representing clients grappling with high-conflict family law challenges. She has in-depth knowledge of where family law intersects with criminal law, along with strategies honed from fighting in the trenches of domestic battles. Ms. Wade has extensive experience with protective orders and laws involving physical abuse, assault and injury, emotional abuse, threats of violence, domestic violence, child abuse and neglect and more. She represents clients in cases of divorce, child custody and visitation, protective orders, child protective services investigations, juvenile delinquency, and criminal charges. Her work defending the mother of a young child left in a hot car seat received considerable media attention.
Ms. Wade grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Richmond School of Law.
EARLY CAREER
Right out of law school, Ms. Wade went to work for the Public Defender’s Office for Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties, where she devoted more than five years to representing clients who were charged with a wide range of offenses, from traffic infractions to serious felonies such as aggravated malicious wounding, drug distribution, and sex crimes. Ms. Wade tried hundreds of bench trials and more than two dozen jury trials. She also handled appeals and numerous appearances at the Court of Appeals of Virginia and the Supreme Court of Virginia, earning victories in both Courts *.
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS
- Alexandria Bar Association, President
- Fairfax Bar Association
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Virginia Trial Lawyers Association
HONORS AND AWARDS
- 2023 Super Lawyer in Northern Virginia and Washington D.C.
- 2018-2023 Best Lawyers in America, U.S News & World Report
- 2016-2022 Super Lawyers Rising Star in Northern Virginia and Washington D.C.
- 2020-2021 Top Lawyers by Northern Virginia Magazine
- 2021 Top Attorney by Arlington Magazine
- 2020 Legal Elite by Virginia Business Magazine
- 2019 Pro Bono Co-Counsel of the Year by the LSNV
- Lawline’s Top 20 Women Faculty of 2016, Above The Law
REPRESENTATIVE CASES
- Jarvis v. Commonwealth, Supreme Court Record No. 100999 (2010)
- Quintanilla v. Commonwealth, Supreme Court Record No. 101298 (2010)
- Dawson v. Commonwealth, Court of Appeals Record No. 0220-11-4 (2011)
- Nealey v. Commonwealth, Supreme Court Record No. 111305 (2012)
- Melara v. Commonwealth, Supreme Court Record No. 120134 (2012)
- Commonwealth v. Jefferson, 60 Va. App. 749 (Court of Appeals of Virginia 2012)
FEATURED VIDEOS
AREAS OF PRACTICE
25% Family Law 25% Divorce and Separation 25% Domestic Violence 25% Criminal Defense
LANGUAGES
Spanish Portuguese French
BAR ADMISSIONS
Virginia, 2007 Virginia Supreme Court, 2007 U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 2013 U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Virginia, 2013
EDUCATION
University of Richmond J.D. magna cum laude - 2007 McGill University B.A. - 2004 Honors: With Honors Major: Honours Economics Minor: Hispanic Languages
PAST EMPLOYMENT POSITIONS
Office of the Public Defender, Assistant Public Defender, 2007 - 2013 Wade, Friedman & Sutter, P.C., 2013 - 2015