Accomack hires new County attorney

By Linda Cicoria

Accomack supervisors unanimously voted Wednesday night to hire a Norfolk lawyer as their new county attorney. The job had been open since the beginning of the year.

Jan L. Proctor, of Vandeventer and Black LLP, will begin her new post sometime in September. Her online portfolio shows she “specializes in local and state government laws and regulation, with expertise in public-private partnerships, redevelopment, economic development agreements, land use, zoning, local and state taxation, finance, land acquisitions, eminent domain, public works, transportation projects, and administrative laws such as the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and the State and Local Conflict of Interests Act.”

Proctor served in the Chesapeake (VA) City Attorney’s Office from 1988-2018, and was appointed City Attorney in 2013. She served as the Opinions Counsel for the Virginia Attorney General from 2018 to 2020.

Proctor also has been involved in economic development projects that “positively impacted the Hampton Roads region, including the development of the Chesapeake Conference Center, the Greenbrier West business center, and the recent expansion of the Dollar Tree headquarters,” according to her profile. Her contributions to those projects include “preparation of performance agreements, state grant and financing documents, contracts, memoranda of understanding, deeds, licenses and easements.” In addition, she assisted “in establishing and maintaining enterprise zones, technology zones, community development authorities, service districts, tax increment financing districts and strategic redevelopment programs.”

Proctor also represented the Chesapeake Planning Commission for more than a decade and throughout her tenure with the city. She was the lead counsel in the multi-million-dollar transportation projects for the Chesapeake Transportation System, replacement of the Jordan Bridge, replacement of the AIW Deep Creek Bridge, and the expansion and realignment of U.S. Route 17.

 Proctor got an undergraduate degree from JMU, summa cum laude, and a law degree from George Mason University School of Law, with distinction. She also served as law clerk to the Honorable J. Calvitt Clarke in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. She has served as president of the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia Inc. and as chair of the Local Government Law Section of the Virginia State Bar.  Proctor received the Edward J. Finnegan Distinguished Service award for her work in local government and has been named a Fellow by the Virginia Law Foundation.

She was not available for comment Thursday morning just prior to this report.

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