Henry P. Custis Jr. awarded the 2023 Tradition of Excellence Award

Henry P. Custis Jr. of Onancock has received the 2023 Tradition of Excellence Award from the Virginia State Bar’s General Practice Section.

This award recognizes a Virginia attorney that embodies the highest tradition of personal and professional excellence and enhances the image of attorneys in the Commonwealth. It will be presented to Custis at the VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach on June 16.

Born and raised on the Eastern Shore, Custis has been a member of the VSB since 1970, the same year he graduated from the University of Richmond School of Law. He has spent his over 50 years as an attorney working in general practice and is a partner with the firm of Custis, Dix, Lewis & Custis, LLP.

Custis has volunteered prolifically in his community and with the VSB. He has been chair of the Clients’ Protection Fund Board and the Disciplinary Board as well as a member of VSB Council, the Committee on Lawyer Discipline, the Midyear Legal Seminar Committee, and the Special Committee on Trust Accounts.

Custis has also supported civic organizations that promote health and education on the Eastern Shore. He has served as president of the Accomack County Chapters of the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association and has been on the board of directors for Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital and the Eastern Shore YMCA. In the realm of education, Custis spent time on the board of Broadwater Academy in Exmore and the Eastern Shore Historical Society. He also served on the board of trustees for St. Timothy’s School in Baltimore as well as his undergraduate alma mater Hampden-Sydney College.

Custis also served on multiple local bank boards, as president of the Eastern Shore Yacht & Country Club, and as a charter member of the Eastern Shore Community Foundation.

In 2000, Custis became a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation, honoring those lawyers and judges who demonstrate the highest standards of integrity and character and are deemed to be outstanding in their profession and in their community.

Grayson S. Johnson of Johnson & Johnson Attorneys at Law, P.C. nominated Custis for the Tradition of Excellence Award. In his nomination letter, Johnson said of Custis, “He is universally liked and respected by everyone with whom he comes in contact.”