Gentry Locke Announces Norfolk Office Opening, Expanding Footprint Across Virginia
NORFOLK, Va. (March 31, 2023) – The Virginia law firm Gentry Locke is pleased to announce that the firm has opened an office in Norfolk, Virginia. The new office is located in the World Trade Center building in downtown Norfolk. It is Gentry Locke’s fourth office in the Commonwealth.
“At Gentry Locke, we have always prided ourselves in the deep roots we have in Virginia. Our new Norfolk office allows us to continue to serve as Virginia’s leading law firm providing extraordinary legal service throughout Virginia,” said Gentry Locke Managing Partner Brett Marston. “We identified Hampton Roads as an area for development and in the past year we have added two exceptional attorneys who have strong ties to the community, and we look forward to their leadership in growing our presence in Norfolk for the benefit of our clients.”
The new office is anchored by John M. Scheib, who joined Gentry Locke as a partner in July 2022, and Melissa O’Boyle, who joined the firm as a partner in January 2023. Scheib is a member of the General Commercial Practice Group and former Chief Legal Officer and senior executive of Norfolk Southern Corporation, with extensive deal-making, legislative, regulatory and business experience and a nationwide reputation in the railroad industry. O’Boyle is a member of Gentry Locke’s Criminal & Government Investigations Group and is a former federal prosecutor, spending more than 15 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, most recently serving as the chief of criminal prosecutions for Norfolk’s Criminal Division.
“We are excited that Gentry Locke has entered into our region, enhancing our capabilities to serve our clients from an expanded footprint within the Commonwealth,” noted Scheib. “This new office is an integral part of the firm’s strategic plan to provide quality legal service to support the needs of clients with interests and operations in the Hampton Roads business community.”
Gentry Locke traces its history back to 1923 in Roanoke, growing throughout the 1950s and 1960s and establishing an office during the downtown revitalization effort of the 1970s in what is now the Gentry Locke/Truist building. The firm continued to expand, opening a new office in downtown Lynchburg in 2015 and a new Richmond office in 2018. With more than 80 attorneys now in the firm’s 100th year, Gentry Locke has consistently adapted and expanded its areas of practice to focus on emerging industries to match client demand.
“The firm has such a rich history in Virginia and has built a reputation over the past century for placing a value on client relationships,” said O’Boyle. “I am proud to be a part of Gentry Locke’s expansion into Norfolk and look forward to helping further the objective of strategic growth as we help clients achieve their business goals.”
About Gentry Locke
With more than 80 lawyers practicing across a range of disciplines, Gentry Locke brings uncommon thinking and deep experience to the legal and business challenges of companies, institutions, organizations and individuals—a commitment the firm has met since 1923. Operating from offices in Roanoke, Lynchburg, Richmond, and Norfolk, Virginia, Gentry Locke serves clients in Virginia and across the United States. Meet the firm’s dynamic attorneys and learn more about its fierce drive to achieve success for its clients by exploring our website.