This exciting CLE features sitting GDC Judges from four Northern Virginia jurisdictions: Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, and Prince William. Attendees will hear from these sitting judges regarding the “dos and don’ts” in their courtrooms. This CLE will also include what promises to be a lively and interesting panel discussion among the judges on various topics, and attendees will have the opportunity to submit questions. This is an essential CLE for any attorney who practices in the General District Courts in Northern Virginia.
Hon. Sonya L. Sacks
Judge
Alexandria General District Court
Hon. Sonya L. Sacks has been sitting in the Alexandria General District Court since 2020. Prior to becoming a judge, she was a senior trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, litigating voting discrimination and then employment discrimination cases. Prior to that, she worked as an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney at the Alexandria Commonwealth's Attorney's Office for approximately 17 years. For seven of those years, she served on a detail as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division, Narcotics Unit, at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the EDVA. She earned her undergraduate degree from Seattle University and her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.
Hon. Dipti Pidikiti-Smith
Judge
Fairfax County General District Court
Dipti Pidikiti-Smith serves as a judge in the Fairfax County General District Court. Prior to taking the bench in 2022, Judge Pidikiti-Smith spent her career at Legal Services of Northern Virginia (LSNV) and received many honors for her work on behalf members of the community disproportionately impacted by the legal system, including receiving the Virginia Legal Aid Award from the Virginia State Bar in 2018, and the Gwendolyn Walker Distinguished Service Award from LSNV in 2012. Judge Pidikiti-Smith has been extensively involved in community and bar associations in both Fairfax County and Alexandria, serving on two state bar committees, co-chairing the Fairfax County Fair Housing Task Force, and authoring the Standards of Practice for the Supervision of Domestic & Sexual Violence Attorneys with the American Bar Association. Prior to attending law school, Judge Pidikiti-Smith worked for AmeriCorps at an elementary school in West Philadelphia. As an attorney, she taught courses in family law at UDC Law School. Judge Pidikiti-Smith received her undergraduate degree from Temple University and obtained her J.D. from University of the District of Columbia, David A. Clarke School of Law.
Hon. Jason Rucker
Judge
Arlington County General District Court
Jason became a Judge for the Arlington County General District Court on March 16, 2019. Prior to becoming a Judge, he managed a law practice located in Arlington, Virginia specializing in criminal defense. While an attorney, Jason volunteered as a member of the VSB Disciplinary Committee, Fourth District Subcommittee from 2007-2013 and 2016 until his appointment as Judge. Jason also volunteered with the VSB as a member of the Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee from 2014-2017. Jason served as President of the Arlington County Bar Association (ACBA) from 2014-2015. Jason was chair of the Arlington County Bar Foundation (charitable arm of the ACBA) in 2018 and remains a board member of the Foundation. Jason lives in Arlington with his wife and 3 boys.
Hon. Will Jarvis
Judge
Prince William Country General District Court
Will Jarvis has served as a judge in the Prince William County General District Court since 2012. Judge Jarvis grew up attending public schools in Norfolk Virginia. He graduated from Old Dominion University in 1985 with a B.A. in Philosophy and a B.S. in Criminal Justice. After doing graduate work at the University of Virginia, Judge Jarvis attended George Mason University School of Law graduating in 1991. He began his legal career as a prosecutor in Pittsylvania County from 1992 to 1998. Judge Jarvis was a prosecutor in Marion County Florida from 1998 to 2002. Upon his return to Virginia in 2002, he prosecuted in Prince William County from 2002 until 2012 when he took the General District Court Bench in Prince William County on November 1, 2012. Judge Jarvis is an adjunct professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law. At the request of the Virginia Supreme Court, he also teaches new and substitute Judges 4th Amendment Search and Seizure Law. He also served on the Board of Directors for the Criminal Law section of the Virginia State Bar and currently serves on the Judicial Education Committee and the Access to Justice Commission’s subcommittee on unrepresented litigants.
Anna K. Dvorchik
Partner
MDE Law Group, PLLC
Ms. Dvorchik has been licensed to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia since 2003. She is licensed to practice before all state courts in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Ms. Dvorchik has first and second chaired multiple litigation matters as a public defender, sole practitioner or with a boutique firm. Her representative matters include criminal, traffic and juvenile law, cps appeals, estate and guardianship litigation, business torts litigation, commercial and residential condominium disputes, business formation litigation, and commercial litigation. Ms. Dvorchik also guides families and clients through issues related to the mental health system. In criminal cases, she has tried multiple cases to judges and juries and has represented over 1500 clients.
Ms. Dvorchik clerked for the Honorable Charles B. Day, Magistrate Judge, for the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. She then joined the Office of the Public Defender for the City and County of Fairfax. Anna left that office at the request of the Honorable M. Langhorne Keith, Circuit Court Judge for the County of Fairfax, to work as his law clerk. Upon his retirement, she clerked for his replacement, the Honorable Charles J. Maxfield. After her term expired with the court, she entered the private practice of criminal law with Yeager & Thelin where she remained until returning to the public defender’s office. In May 2010, at the request of the Fairfax County Circuit Court, she became a law clerk for the Honorable Brett A. Kassabian.
She is a graduate of Washington and Lee School of Law and Connecticut College. Born and raised in Alexandria, she is a proud Titan, Class of 1994.
She lives in Alexandria with her husband and two boys.
Volunteer work
She serves as Co-Chair of the Friends of the Alexandria Mental Health Center. She also volunteers as a conciliator for the Fairfax County Circuit Court and as a committee member for the Fairfax Bar's General District Court Committee and Circuit Court Committee.
