The Shadow
The historic Lawrence-Stephenson House in downtown Covington will once again house a law firm.
Covington attorneys Russell Updike, Nolan Nicely and Jennifer May Crawford have purchased the historic property on Riverside Street and plan to relocate their law firm there at the start of the new year.
Updike, Nicely &?Craw-ford, PLC, purchased the property on Dec. 18 and plan to move into the new location over the Christmas holiday. Their target date for opening is Jan. 2.
The legal team has a wealth of experience and a long history of practicing law in the Alleghany Highlands.
Updike came to Covington from Richmond in 1990. He received his bachelor of science degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1986 and his juris doctor degree from the University of Richmond T.C. Williams School of Law in 1990.
Updike joined the law firm of William T. Wilson and Associates in 1990 and engaged in the general practice of law until becoming a partner in the firm of Wilson &?Updike in 1994.
For the past 24 years, Updike has practiced almost exclusively injury law, representing individuals in personal injury, medical malpractice and workers’ compensation claims.
Updike has been involved in the community by serving on the boards of the Salvation Army, Jackson River Enterprises and the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce.
He is currently the chairman of the JRE Board of Directors.
Updike is married to the former Jennifer Lilly of Lewisburg, W.Va. They have twin boys, Eli Jackson and Trent Justice, and a daughter, Ava Grace.
Updike recalled his introduction to Covington. He started practicing law here in 1990 after he and Wilson “had a fortuitous meeting in Charlottesville.”
Wilson was looking for someone to join his practice in Covington. The University of Virginia was hosting a job fair for recent law school graduates, and Updike attended, “hoping to find someone to give me a shot.”
“Bill and I?hit it off, and not long thereafter, I?packed the few belongings I?had and moved to Covington,”?Updike said.
Wilson and Updike engaged in the general practice of law for about five years, after which time they decided to focus the practice on handling personal property, medical malpractice and workers’ compensation claims.
At about the same time that Updike became a partner in the firm, Nicely was hired as an associate.
“Nolan proved to be an integral part of our team, and he was made a partner in 1999,”?Updike said.
Nicely, an Alleghany County native, graduated from Hampden-Sydney College summa cum laude in 1991 and received his juris doctorate from the University of Virginia Law School in 1994.
After law school, he returned to the Highlands and has practiced with Wilson and Updike since 1994.
Nicely’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation, and he spends much of his time working on legal research and writing, liens, insurance issues and other issues necessary to navigating the document- and information-intensive environment of complex personal injury and medical malpractice cases.
Nicely is involved in his church and serves on the board of the Alleghany Highlands Regional Library and the Alleghany Community Services Board.
He is an avid hunter and land manager, and he is a founding member of the Appalachian Habitat Association.
Nicely resides in Alleghany County with his wife, Hope, formerly Hope Clarke Phillips of Covington, and two sons, Nolan III?and Asher.
“Having been born and raised in Alleghany County, I?welcomed the opportunity to return home to work at Wilson &?Updike during my summers at U.Va. Law School and then joined Russ and Bill after graduating in 1994,”?Nicely recalled. “For the next 10 years, Bill, Russ and I?had a number of memorable cases all over Virginia.”
In 2008, Updike and Nicely agreed to buy out Wilson’s interest in the firm and continued to operate as Wilson, Updike &?Nicely.
In 2011, Crawford, a native of Millboro, joined the practice.
Crawford had worked at the firm for a number of years before she ultimately went to law school and became a practicing attorney.
Crawford received her bachelor of arts degree from Virginia Tech in 2007 and her juris doctor from Appalachian School of Law in 2011, graduating magna cum laude and finishing third in her class.
While at Appalachian, Crawford was selected to compete on the school’s National Moot Court Competition Team.
She is married to Joey Crawford of Covington. Crawford is past president and an active member of the Alleghany Highlands Kiwanis Club. She is also a board member of the Alleghany Highlands Virginia Tech Alumni Association.
“Jennie has been instrumental as the firm has increasingly had to transition to online and digital media in the form of electronic medical records, online filings and the increasing dependency on electronic information that is now commonplace in our complex litigation cases,”?Nicely said.
Although Updike and Nicely continued to operate the firm from the Maple Avenue location after 2008, they decided earlier this year that it was time to own their own building. Consequently, they began searching for a new location where they could continue their practice for years to come.
Updike said a realtor told them that he believed the Alleghany Historical Society would consider selling the Lawrence-Stephenson House — the birthplace of the late Virginia Supreme Court Justice Roscoe B. Stephenson Jr. — provided the property was used for purposes which were compatible with its historic significance.
“A discussion or two later and a firm handshake with Paul Linkenhoker, president of the Alleghany Historical Society, and we had a deal,”?Updike said. “Paul was excited, and we were enthusiastic as well.”
Crawford said the purchase of the Lawrence-Stephenson House is a win-win for both the firm and the Alleghany Historical Society.
“The purchase of this property provides the firm a charming and historic building, ideally located behind the Alleghany County Courthouse,”?Crawford added. “It also provides the Alleghany Historical Society proceeds from the sale that will allow it to fund existing and upcoming projects that will inure to the benefit of all.
“We look forward to completing our move in the coming weeks,”?Crawford concluded.
