Attorneys

Andrew A. Protogyrou is a partner at Protogyrou & Rigney where he specializes in insurance defense, products liability and criminal defense.

Mr. Protogyrou has tried over 125 jury trials.
His practice has included the defense of liability matters totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars in amounts sought by plaintiffs. Mr. Protogyrou defends high profile criminal defendants on a variety of matters from capital murder to white collar crime.

Mr. Protogyrou is well-known throughout the Commonwealth for teaching numerous continuing legal education classes and seminars relating to trials of criminal and automobile cases.

He has successfully defended the longest and largest federal criminal trial to date in the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and successfully represented the largest indictment against a single individual in the same court.

Practice groups

Insurance defense
Product liability
Criminal defense

Admitted to practice

The Virginia Bar, 1987
Virginia Supreme Court
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
United States Supreme Court

Academics

Virginia Military Institute (BA with distinction 1984)
T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond (JD 1987)
Member: Client Counseling and Negotiations Board, 1986.

Military Background

Commissioned, Second Lieutenant, United States Army Reserve, 1984
United States Army Armor School, Fort Knox, Kentucky, 8/88 - 12/88
First Lieutenant, Virginia Army National Guard, Infantry and Artillery Branches - Richmond and Norfolk, Virginia 1990 - 1994

Law-related organizations

American Bar Association
   Tort and insurance law section
   Criminal law section
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association
Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys
Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys
   Board member, 1995 - 2006
Virginia Bar Association
   Criminal law section
   Continuing legal education committee
      Chair, 2001 - 2002
      Vice-chair, 1999 - 2000
      Secretary and chair, 1997
Virginia Capital Defense Workshop
   Committee member, 1998 - 2001
Virginia State Bar
   Criminal law section ex-officio member of Board of Governors, 2001 - 2002
   Judicial screening committee, 2003
   Professionalism faculty member, 2003 - 2004

Honors

Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine, Law & Politics, 2007
Virginia Business Magazine: Virginia’s Legal Elite/The Best Lawyers in Virginia (Top 25 Criminal Law Attorneys) 2000 and 2003
Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity, John Marshall Inn, Lublin, Poland, Honorary member for service, March 2001
Dolan's Virginia Business Observer: Forty Under Forty, Hampton Roads' Rising Stars, 2000

Visiting Professor

Visiting Professor of Law: University Marie Curie-Sklodowskiet law faculty, Lublin, Poland, 2000 and 2001 spring terms

Judicial

Substitute Judge, General District and Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts (Appointed by the Circuit Court Judges of Norfolk), 2006

Lectures-appearances-publications

Speaker/Panelist: Judicial Settlement Conference Training Session, Virginia Supreme Court, June 2007.
Speaker: Criminal Litigation Specialty Workshop, Virginia State Bar Professionalism Course, May 2006.
Author-speaker: Private Investigators: Civil and Criminal Cases, Norfolk Portsmouth Bar Association, April 2006.
Speaker: Sentences After Booker - Disposition and Review, and Challenging the Use of Prior Convictions to Enhance Sentences - Some Pertinent Cases, The Office of Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Virginia, July 2005
Speaker: How to Obtain and Maintain Clients: The Lawyer's Role as a Business Person and a Counselor at Law, and Criminal Litigation Specialty Workshop, Virginia State Bar Professionalism Course, May 2005
Speaker: Bridge the Gap seminar for Criminal Law Section, Virginia State Bar MCLE, March, 2005
Author-speaker: Dealing with the Media - Lawyers in the News. Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association,. February 2005
Speaker: Civil Litigation Specialty Workshop, Virginia State Bar Professionalism Course, May 2004.
Speaker: General Ethics Session, Virginia State Bar Professionalism Course, September 2004.
Author-speaker: The X-Files: Effective Cross Examination and Witness Preparation, Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association, September 2004.
Speaker: Representing the Mentally Retarded in Civil and Criminal Cases, Virginia State Bar 33rd annual Criminal Law Seminar, February 2003.
Lecturer-panelist: Representing the Mentally Retarded in Civil and Criminal Cases, Virginia Bar Association, January 2003
Lecturer: Selected Issues In Evidence, Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys; May 2002
Moderator: Defending Criminal Cases in Virginia, Virginia State Bar, June 2002
Author: Raising Issues of Competency to Stand Trial for the Mentally Retarded in Criminal Cases, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Journal, Summer 2002.
Moderator: Sex, Lies and Cyberspace. Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Journal, September 2002
Author-lecturer: General Liability Insurance Coverage Issues - adjusting motor vehicle accident-premises liability personal injury claims in Virginia, National Business Institute, 2002
Speaker: Grand Jury Perspectives from the Bench and Bar, Virginia Bar Association, January 2000
Panelist: Capital Punishment and DNA, On the Record - WVEC television, 2000
Lecturer-panelist-committee member: The Defense of a Criminal Case, Williamsburg Bar Association, 2000.
Author-lecturer: Creative Practice in General District Court, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, 2000
Moderator-speaker: Pre-Law Symposium, Virginia Military Institute,
2000
Lecturer-panelist: Driving While Under the Influence of Color, Virginia State Bar, 1999
Panelist: Racial Profiling in Police Stops, On the Record - WVEC television, 1998
Lecturer: Update on Virginia Tort Law, Tidewater Claims Association, 1998
Lecturer: Virginia Bar Association 6th Annual Capital Defense Workshop, 1998
Lecturer-panelist: Forfeitures and Other Government Seizures: What You Don't Know Can Hurt, Virginia Bar Association, 1998
Lecturer-panelist: What To Do If Stopped by the Police, Norfolk State University, 1998
Lecturer: Hot Ethical Topics for the Criminal Defense Attorney, Virginia College of Criminal Defense Attorneys, 1998

Community Organizations

Board of Trustees, Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 1995 - 1996
Vice president, 2005
Norfolk Collegiate School, Alumni Board Member, 1995 - 1999
City of Norfolk Azalea Festival Committee, 1996 - 1998
Vice chair, 2005
Virginia Military Institute Alumni Board, Regional Director, 1999 - 2002
Greek School Board Chairman, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 2001 - 2001
School Teacher, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 2001 - 2005
Norfolk Youth Soccer League coach ("D" Series License), 2001 - 2005
Norfolk Collegiate School middle school soccer coach, 2004 - 2005
Lochhaven Civic League Board Member, 2004 - 2005
Secretary, 2005
Norfolk Youth Basketball coach, 2005

Civic Organizations

Gubernatorial Appointment to Citizens Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council (Two Term appointee by Governors Warner and Kaine), 2006

City of Norfolk Electoral Board
Secretary, 2002- 2003
Chairman, 2000 - 2001

Gubernatorial appointment to Citizens Advisory Committee to the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council, 2002

Virginia State Crime Commission, Indigent Defense Study Committee, 2001