Stephanie Himel-Nelson has been practicing law for more than 25 years and serves as the firm’s principal estate planning attorney. She believes firmly that everyone needs an estate plan and is dedicated to helping Virginia families safeguard their assets and protect their financial future at every stage of life. Stephanie is licensed in Virginia and Washington, D.C., and is also a seasoned litigator with extensive experience in complex commercial contract litigation, government contracts, construction law, and negotiating and drafting commercial agreements. After more than a decade practicing as a litigator, she co-founded Blue Star Families, an influential nonprofit organization supporting military families nationwide. Originally from Louisiana, Stephanie grew up around the world in a military family. After attending the University of Miami and the University of Nebraska at Omaha, she met her husband, a proud Navy servicemember, before relocating to Virginia. She earned her law degree from The George Washington University Law School, where she served as Executive Notes Editor of the International Law Review. Now based in the Hampton Roads area, Stephanie is expanding the firm’s estate planning practice across the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is deeply committed to community service and has served in numerous leadership roles, including president of the board of directors for her children’s swim clubs, PTA board member, band booster board member, and contracts chair for the Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach. She currently serves as Secretary of the Hampton Roads chapter of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association and as a member of the Programming Committee for the Hampton Roads Estate Planning Council. Outside the office, Stephanie serves as a stroke and turn official for USA Swimming, the Virginia High School League, the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association, and the Virginia Beach Swim League. On weekends, you will often find her on the pool deck at swim meets or cheering on Virginia Tech football, though she still roots for the Miami Hurricanes when the two teams face off.

I am an experienced intellectual property attorney who has filed and prosecuted many U.S. and PCT/foreign patent applications and U.S. trademark applications. With regard to the patent field, I have drafted many patent applications; responses to Office Actions; validity/invalidity, infringement/non-infringement and freedom-to-operate opinions; and appeal briefs and Request for Reexamination in the mechanical, biochemical, biotechnology, chemical, pharmaceutical, medical device, and business method arts.

Wayne R. Cohen is the founder and managing partner of Cohen & Cohen, P.C. Mr. Cohen is an AV-rated lawyer, whose practice is concentrated in the areas of medical malpractice, wrongful death, automobile accidents, product liability, class actions, and other personal injury areas. In short, he has devoted his professional career to representing the rights of the injured. Mr. Cohen has appeared on numerous occasions in local and national television shows and print media. Mr. Cohen has been called one of “Washington’s best lawyers”, one of Washington’s “top 40 lawyers under 40,” one of “Washington’s top trial lawyers,” one of “the 50 best lawyers in Washington,” and “one of the city’s most feared personal injury lawyers.” (Washingtonian Magazine, November 2015, December 2013, November 2011, December 2009, December 2007, July 2006, August 2004, April 2002, and June 2001). The Washington Examiner identified Mr. Cohen as a “prominent, personal injury lawyer” on January 31, 2006. He was named in The National Trial Lawyers Association’s 2008Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the District of Columbia, has been named as one of Washington DC’s Super Lawyers for 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 & 2016 and has been featured by Washingtonian Magazine.

Kabara Korth Praskavich is a partner at Maddox & Gerock, P.C., where she has devoted her legal career exclusively to domestic relations matters. She approaches each case with a commitment to helping clients feel informed, supported, and grounded during what is often a deeply stressful experience. Her background includes a wide range of family law matters, including custody, support, property division, and enforcement. She frequently handles cases requiring detailed financial analysis, such as those involving business valuation, executive compensation, and the identification of marital waste. She is also a nationally recognized speaker on these topics. Kabara adapts her approach based on the specific needs of each client. Some cases may resolve efficiently through negotiation or mediation, while others call for a more intensive litigation strategy involving financial or psychological professionals. Most matters fall between these extremes, and Kabara helps clients weigh their legal options in light of their goals, the emotional and financial costs of each path, and the circumstances of their case. After earning her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, where she completed over 350 hours of pro bono service in family law, Kabara interned with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network and clerked for the D.C. Superior Court, where she worked on cases involving civil commitment, and child protection. She earned her undergraduate degree in history from the University of Chicago. Kabara now lives in Maryland with her spouse, children, and dog. Outside of work, she enjoys reading, hiking, traveling, and exploring her love for all things nerdy. To learn more about working with Kabara or to schedule a consultation, contact Maddox & Gerock, P.C. by calling 703-883-8035 today.

Damien Smith has been working in personal injury law in Virginia since 2018. Damien is motivated by his clients’ personal stories and works hard to fight for the justice and fairness they deserve. Damien started at a small firm, where he learned to always put client service first. He has handled hundreds of settlement and litigation cases from car accident and premises liability claims to dog bite lawsuits and other personal injury cases. Damien also has robust experience in handling criminal, traffic, and bankruptcy matters. Prior to his time in personal injury law, he worked in corporate compliance relating to consumer financial regulation. Damien is a member of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and is pending admission to the D.C. bar. He regularly devotes pro bono time to low-income clients facing collection and housing actions at the Legal Services of Northern Virginia in Fairfax, Virginia. Originally from Fauquier County, Virginia, Damien earned his undergraduate degrees in philosophy and political science from James Madison University. Damien then went on to earn a graduate degree from James Madison in European Union Policy Studies in Florence, Italy. While enrolled in this program, Damien was recognized for the best paper in the Master’s symposium. During the two years he spent in Florence, Damien also taught English as a second language. Damien completed his law degree at George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, in 2014. He served as the Executive Editor of the Journal of International Commercial Law, and worked on a voter restoration project that assisted Virginia residents with regaining their voting rights after felony convictions. Damien lives in the Woodley Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., with his wife. They enjoy walking through the Zoo, exploring the city, rooting for all of the local sports teams, and caring for their community garden plot and abundance of house plants. Damien enjoys reading, jazz music, playing soccer and softball, and practicing the guitar and cornet.

Ms. Berry is the managing partner and has a wide range of experience in the representation of federal, public, and private sector employees as well as small business organizations. Her practice focuses on employment, retirement, business, and contract law. Ms. Berry specializes in federal employee retirement issues before the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and other federal agencies. In particular, Ms. Berry has represented federal employees in matters involving federal employee retirement issues under the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), CSRS Offset, and the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Many of her retirement matters have involved federal agency retirement errors in connection with the Federal Erroneous Retirement Coverage Correction Act (FERCCA), litigation with OPM and numerous other federal agencies over survivor annuitants’ benefits due to OPM errors and erroneous advice, issues involving former spousal benefits under Court Orders Acceptable for Processing (COAP) or Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDRO), federal law enforcement officer (LEO) and firefighter (FF) eligibility for special federal retirement benefits, and other federal employment retirement-related issues. Ms. Berry further specializes in the drafting, reviewing, and negotiating of severance, confidentiality/non-disclosure, non-compete, non-solicitation, and various other employment agreements. She also advises on business start-up and creation issues, contract drafting and review, and certain wage and hour issues. This representation includes executives and employees in various professions as well as solo practitioners, small businesses, and large organizations. Ms. Berry has litigated numerous Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) matters on behalf of federal and private sector employees against various federal agencies and private employers involving all types of discrimination and retaliation claims. In addition, Ms. Berry has handled grievance matters before county and federal agencies. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Berry served as Interim General Counsel and a corporate officer of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the largest nonprofit conservation organization in the United States. Ms. Berry has also served as a speaker at Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars and other events, and provided legal training to staff on regulation compliance matters as well as business owners, independent contractors and solo practitioners in contract and business compliance matters. While Ms. Berry was a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, she presented legal seminars as a faculty member on various legal issues of relevance to in-house counsel of business organizations.

Mr. Berry is the founding partner and represents federal employees, government contractors, employers, state employees, federal intelligence agency employees, law enforcement officers, firefighters, private sector employees, in various employment, labor and national security law matters. Mr. Berry’s primary practice areas include security clearance defense, disciplinary action defense, administrative investigation representation, and representation in equal employment opportunity (EEO) claims. For federal employees and government contractors, Mr. Berry represents them nationwide in security clearance appeals and federal disciplinary actions. Mr. Berry frequently defends federal employees in proposed removals, proposed suspensions, and performance matters before their respective agencies; represents federal employees in appeals before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB); represents individuals in Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint matters before respective federal agencies and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); and represents federal employees and government contractors in security clearance matters before the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) and the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA). In addition, Mr. Berry represents security clearance holders before all federal agencies (DoS, DoD, DoE) and those federal agencies within the Intelligence Community (NRO, NGA, CIA, DIA, NSA). Mr. Berry has represented hundreds of individuals in administrative investigations conducted by agency investigators, inspectors general (IG), internal affairs unit investigators and before the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) of various federal agencies. Mr. Berry also represents private sector, state, county, and municipal employees in the Commonwealth of Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia in various types of investigations, county and state grievance procedures, disciplinary actions, whistleblower issues, and equal employment opportunity (EEO) matters. Mr. Berry previously served as the General Counsel to the United States Park Police and United States Capitol Police Federal Labor Unions representing law enforcement officers in disciplinary, wage and security clearance matters. Mr. Berry has also served as counsel for local businesses involving issues related to wage and hour matters, Human Resources Policy development, and employment legal defense. He is a security clearance lawyer and member of the Security Clearance Lawyers Association. Mr. Berry has been interviewed on radio and television networks, like CNN, and written and commented on articles for news organizations such as the Washington Post and others. He has taught continuing education courses for lawyers in his practice areas. He has written several published legal articles on various topics regarding employment and labor law as well as security clearance law. Mr. Berry authors articles for ClearanceJobs. In addition, he previously served as the Editor-in-Chief of the District of Columbia Bar Labor and Employment Law Newsletter and served as a guest speaker for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars on administrative, employment and labor law issues. Mr. Berry frequently provides legal guidance and training to Human Resources personnel of companies, nonprofit entities, and labor unions. In 2009, Mr. Berry was elected by his peers to the D.C. Bar Labor and Employment Law Section’s Steering Committee. The Committee works to advance the professional development and competence of its members by offering educational programs and publications in the substantive law fields of labor and employment law, as well as areas of practice and procedure. Since 2014, Mr. Berry has served as co-author of the firm’s legal articles on RestonNow, and ArlingtonNow. Since 2019, Mr. Berry has co-taught the District of Columbia Bar continuing legal education course on security clearance representation for other lawyers seeking to learn how to effectively represent clients in security clearance cases. Mr. Berry presented a class for the Virginia Continuing Legal Education program on the security clearance process in May of 2021 and a class regarding the MSPB and EEOC in November of 2022.

Ms. Watkins’ federal practice focuses on cases before various administrative agencies — including the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) – as well as security clearance cases before the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA), the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency Consolidated Adjudication Services (DCSA CAS), numerous cases before the Intelligence Community and before other federal agencies. In 2022, Ms. Watkins was selected for membership in the Security Clearance Lawyers Association by her peers. Ms. Watkins also advises private sector and municipal employees in the District of Columbia in various types of investigations, grievance procedures, disciplinary actions, whistleblower issues, and equal employment opportunity (EEO) matters. Ms. Watkins also focuses on various administrative matters involving federal law enforcement officers. Ms. Watkins has several years of litigation background and has guided countless clients through depositions and trial proceedings. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Watkins worked as an attorney advisor for the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, the appellate division of the Department of Veterans Affairs, authoring appeals decisions to resolve cases arising from Veterans benefits disputes. During law school, Ms. Watkins worked as a legal intern with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bureau of Prisons, providing legal support to DOJ attorneys on a variety of cases involving matters such as correctional law and litigation, civil rights disputes, mental health hearings, and FTCA claims. Prior to her legal training, Ms. Watkins obtained her undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University where she double majored in History and Political Science. While attending Wake Forest, Ms. Watkins also participated as a member of the University’s Equestrian Team. Ms. Watkins is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and before federal agencies nationwide.

Nicole M. Burns has practiced family law in Northern Virginia for over a decade, handling everything from complex custody disputes and domestic violence cases to amicable divorces and post-judgment matters. She offers both litigation and settlement-focused services, using mediation and collaborative law when appropriate to help clients resolve issues with less conflict. Her background in psychology—combined with real-life parenting experience, including raising a child with special needs—gives her a grounded, empathetic approach to family law. Nicole earned her law degree from George Mason University and graduated with honors from the Catholic University of America. She is a member of the Fairfax and Prince William County Bar Associations and the Virginia State Bar. Ready to move forward with confidence? Call Nicole M. Burns today at 703-373-4761 or complete our contact form to discuss how she can help you protect your family and your future.

Attorney Josue Ruiz is an experienced advocate practicing immigration law across the United States and Puerto Rico and personal injury law in Puerto Rico. He can provide assistance with family preference visas, immediate relative visas, fiancé (K) visas, green cards, professional work visas, green cards through employer, waivers of inadmissability, VAWA & U visas, DACA & special immigrant juvenile law, and asylum. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law in 2011 and has been a member of the Puerto Rico Bar since 2012. Josue is also an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Fluent in both English and Spanish, he is dedicated to providing personalized legal representation and effective advocacy for a diverse range of clients. Call 571-441-2233 to speak to Mr. Ruiz at Immigration Legal Advisors, PLLC.