R. Peyton Mahaffey

Peyton Mahaffey is the President, Managing Partner, and a member of the Executive Committee of McCandlish & Lillard, and has actively litigated business, corporate and commercial matters on a continuing basis since 1980. He has broad experience as a trial lawyer and lead counsel in State and Federal cases, as well as arbitration. He has tried numerous jury and non-jury cases, written and argued several appellate briefs to the Virginia Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, and been the principal attorney on a number of reported state and federal decisions.

Mr. Mahaffey graduated with High Distinction from the University of Virginia in 1977, and from its Law School in 1980. He is admitted to practice before all State and Federal courts in Virginia, as well as the United States Supreme Court. Professional memberships include the Fairfax, Virginia and American Bar Associations, The Virginia State Bar (Past-Member Board of Governors, Young Lawyers Conference, and Fifth District Disciplinary Committee), and The Northern Virginia Young Lawyers Association (Past-President). Mr. Mahaffey expands his formal education through experience and not less than 15 hours of continuing legal education per year.

Mr. Mahaffey has served the Virginia Bar Association as a member of its Civil Litigation Council, and is currently a member of it Board of Governors. He lectured on “Covenants Not to Compete” for the Fairfax Bar Association, published a book “McCandlish & Lillard 1908-2008: Celebrating 100 Years of Tradition, Innovation, and Results” (by R. Peyton Mahaffey, Signature Book Printing, May 2008), and with Daniel P. Lyon of the Firm, co-authored and published legal articles entitled “When Is Raiding a Competitor’s Employees Illegal?” (Virginia Business Law Journal, 1996) and “Seller Beware — The Impact of Prospect Development Co. v. Bershader on the Sale of Real Estate in Virginia” (The Fee Simple, Virginia State Bar Assn. – Real Property Section, Volume XX, Number 1 (1999).

United States Supreme Court – 1984

Virginia Supreme Court – 1980

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit -1982

United States District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia – 1981

United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia -1982

Law School:    UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA    Degree:  Juris Doctor, 1980

College:     UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA      Degree:   Bachelor of Arts, High Distinction, 1977

Mr. Mahaffey has successfully brought and defended fiduciary, fraud, business conspiracy, and tortious interference with contract claims, minority shareholder oppression actions, and suits involving partnership dissolutions, non-solicitation and non-competition agreements. Mr. Mahaffey has successfully represented local, regional and national businesses in major corporate and contract litigation; individuals, physicians, architects, and other professionals and their practice groups in partnership disputes; and Federal and State chartered banking institutions in lender liability, commercial, and other contract litigation. Mr. Mahaffey has been qualified as an expert and has testified on the reasonableness and recovery of attorneys’ fees in law Actions and Fiduciary matters. He has also represented plaintiffs in pharmaceutical and misfilled prescription litigation, has represented builders, developers and individual purchasers of real estate, with many cases involving declaratory, injunctive or other emergency relief.

Honors and Professional Recognitions include selection to the “Legal Elite” by Virginia Business magazine, based on a statewide survey of practicing attorneys, as one of the preeminent attorneys in Virginia; an AV-Preeminent review rating in Martindale-Hubbell, which identifies him as an attorney possessing “pre-eminent” legal ability; “Top Lawyers” in the Washington metropolitan area by Washingtonian Magazine ;  “Super Lawyers,” an annual listing of outstanding lawyers who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement, and limited to no more than 5 percent of the licensed, active attorneys in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and in the Washington, D.C. area for 2007 – 2015;  Super Lawyers Business , “Top Attorneys in Business Litigation – Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel”,  “Top Attorneys” in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area, by the American Registry; “Top Attorneys” in Virginia, selected by Peer Recognition and Professional Achievement ;  “Best Lawyers in America” by the American Registry;  Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America (“LCA”)  a trial lawyer honorary society comprised of less than one-half of one per cent (0.5%) of lawyers in the United States; and Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation (“VLF”), an honor conferred on Virginia lawyers of integrity and character who are outstanding in their profession and in their communities.

Virginia Bar Association:

Member:   Board of Governors; Civil Litigation Section

Virginia State Bar:

Fifth District Disciplinary Committee 1990 – 1993

Board of Governors – Young Lawyers Conference 1986 – 1990

Fairfax Bar Association:

Circuit Court Committee

American Bar Association:

Litigation, Corporate, Banking, Intellectual Property, and Business Law Sections

Northern Virginia Young Lawyers Association:

President 1984 – 85

McCandlish & Lillard 1908 – 2008: Celebrating 100 Years of Tradition, Innovation and Results, by R. Peyton Mahaffey, Signature Book Printing, Gaithersburg, Maryland (May 2008)

Point of Beginning, Volume 26, Number 2 (2000) “Division in Kind”

The Fee Simple, Virginia State Bar Association — Real Property Section,Volume XX, Number 1 (1999), “Seller Beware – The Impact of Prospect Development

            Company v. Bershader on the Sale of Real Estate in Virginia”

Virginia Business Law Journal, 1996

“When is Raiding a Competitor’s Employees Illegal?”

Commercial Law Digest, 1994

“State Variations of Commercial Law”