Professional Experience

Steve Raynor started his career with a law firm of one hundred attorneys handling insurance defense litigation. Upon his return to Charlottesville, he engaged in a broad trial practice including a wide range of civil litigation in the state and federal courts, bankruptcy cases including several complicated Chapter 11 matters, and criminal law in the state and federal courts, including a number of drug conspiracy cases. Mr. Raynor represented Albemarle County with regard to its delinquent real estate taxes for approximately twenty years. More recently, Mr. Raynor has handled a range of cases against local governments (including Nelson County, Greene County, Orange County and Fluvanna County). These cases have involved land use, zoning, real estate taxes, a water authority, and a referendum. Though he has a broad range of trial experience, over the years Mr. Raynor's practice has become more narrowly focused on family law.

Divorce and Family Law

Family Law, including divorce, custody and visitation, support, settlement agreements, and prenuptial agreements has been the primary emphasis for Mr. Raynor over the last twenty years. Mr. Raynor follows a client-centered approach in which he learns the client's goals and works with the client to create a strategy to meet those goals. Sometimes the goals are a negotiated settlement with a focus on the best interests of the children. In other cases, negotiations may not be successful and litigation is necessary. The majority of Mr. Raynor's family law cases settle, but he has extensive experience litigating a wide range of family law issues, from simple motions to multi-day trials.

Collaborative Law and Mediation

Mr. Raynor has a collaborative divorce practice that provides an alternative to the traditional divorce case. He also regularly represents clients in mediation. In addition, Mr. Raynor is himself trained as a mediator and can handle mediations for parties (that are not his clients).