Victor Cardwell is Co-Chair of Woods Rogers’ Labor and Employment Law Section. He is also Chairman of the Woods Rogers Board of Directors. He practices labor and employment law throughout the U.S., focusing on diversity, the Fair Labor Standards Act, and labor/management relations—including union-organizing campaigns and union-avoidance techniques, and workplace violence.
Victor has significant experience before state and federal courts and administrative agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board. He offers counsel to executive and human resources managers on a wide range of employer concerns—from harassment, sexual orientation/transgender, retaliation, and discrimination, to workforce reductions, handbooks and agreements, unfair competition, wage/hour compliance, health and disability, discipline/discharge, and employee leave.
Victor is President-elect of the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association and serves on the Virginia State Bar’s Board of Governors for its Diversity Conference. He was named to the Roanoke Law Foundation Fellows Program in 2018.
Virginia Lawyers Weekly has recognized Victor as a “Leaders in the Law.” He is regularly listed in industry rankings including Virginia Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America for Employment Law – Management and Labor Law – Management, including being named Roanoke Lawyer of the Year. He is recognized by Martindale-Hubbell in Litigation and Labor and Employment and by Chambers USA as a leading attorney in the Labor and Employment practice. In 2019, Victor received the Martin Luther King “Drum Major for Justice” award issued by the local Roanoke chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Prior to joining Woods Rogers in 1991, Victor served as Deputy Associate Chief Counsel with the U. S. Department of Labor Benefits Review Board. He has served as a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association, representing Virginia, and was appointed to the Human Rights Council of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Victor lends legal counsel to many Roanoke-area nonprofit organizations including the Bradley Free Clinic, Center in the Square, Grandin Theatre Foundation, Mill Mountain Zoo, United Way of the Roanoke Valley, Science Museum of Western Virginia, and Human Rights Council of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He serves on the board of directors for the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges. In September 2020, Victor was appointed to serve on the board of the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority. In the past, he has served on the boards of the Science Museum of Western Virginia and the Virginia High School League Foundation. He has also been an active volunteer with Cosmopolitan International.
Affiliations
Bar Associations/Legal Community
American Bar Association
Labor and Employment Section/Delegate Member from Virginia
Sports and Entertainment Law Section/Delegate Member from Virginia
Virginia State Bar
Board of Governors for VSB Diversity Conference
Virginia Bar Association
President-elect, Board of Governors (2021)
Chair, Board of Governors (2020)
Committee on Federal Judgeships
Western District Committee on Nominations to Virginia Commissions & Appellate Courts
Labor Relations & Employment Law Section Council
Law Practice Management Division Executive Committee & Council
Boyd-Graves Conference of the Virginia Bar Association
National Bar Association
Old Dominion Bar Association
Roanoke Bar Association
American Inns of Court
Former Associate, The Ted Dalton American Inn of Court
23rd Judicial Circuit Fee Dispute Resolution Program
Chairman
Board Service
Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges
Virginia Passenger Rail Authority
Thought Leadership
Publications
An Employment Law Guide: Employee Rights and Employer Responsibilities in Virginia (2021), Co-author
Employment Law in Virginia (2020), Co-author
Featured Posts
Legal Marijuana and Your Workplace: It’s Going to Get Complicated | April 9, 2021
Virginia’s COVID-19 Emergency Standards Are Now Permanent | February 1, 2021
Storming the U.S. Capitol! Can you fire an employee for rioting? | January 11, 2021
Retaliation: “I know it when I see it!” But do you really? | November 16, 2020
Virginia’s COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standards Are Effective NOW! (Coronavirus and the Law) | July 27, 2020
Virginia Adopts COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standards (Coronavirus and the Law) | July 16, 2020
Life happens at work. Are your employees discussing the George Floyd tragedy? | June 4, 2020
Six Steps to Take if an Employee Tests Positive for COVID-19 (Coronavirus and the Law) | April 14, 2020
Workplace Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (Coronavirus and the Law) | March 12, 2020
Paying Employees Properly Under the FLSA During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Coronavirus and the Law) | March 12, 2020
Speaking Engagements
New River Valley SHRM Annual Legal Update | Are You an HR Hero? Managing Litigation | September 16, 2021
Roanoke Valley SHRM | Diversity, Equity And Inclusion In The Workplace | August 24, 2021
Shenandoah Valley SHRM 2021 Virginia Legal Forum | How Does a Lawsuit Work | September 15, 2021
Virginia CLE | Elimination of Bias: Racial Bias Challenges in the Legal System | August 27, 2021
Virginia CLE | Elimination of Bias: Racial Bias Challenges in the Legal System | August 19, 2021
IPMA-Va Spring Conference | 2021 Legal Updates | March 23, 2021
Virginia Association of Community Service Boards HR Leadership | Virginia’s New Employment Laws | October 30, 2020
UVA Club of Tidewater | Hoo Knows the Law? | October 9, 2020
American Counsel of Engineering Companies of Virginia | HR Roundtable – Virginia’s New Workplace Laws: What’s Here and What’s Coming? | August 26, 2020
Virginia Credit Union League | Virginia’s Updated Workplace Standards & EFMLA | August 5, 2020
VACAP Human Resources Peer Group | COVID-19 – Returning to Work: Legal Issues Agencies Need to Consider | June 10, 2020
Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce | COVID-19 Webinar Series | April 24, 2020
Richmond SHRM | HR on Mock Trial: Romance Gone Wrong (Allegedly) | September 19, 2019
2019 Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference "Payroll Strikes Back" | HR Issues in Payroll | October 10, 2019
Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia | Higher Education Legal Update | May 22, 2019
MSCUA Annual Meeting | Hot Topics in Employee Handbooks | May 16, 2019
Lynchburg Regional Alliance Business Summit | Employment Law Updates | April 30, 2019
Virginia SHRM Annual Conference | Employment Law Update | April 8, 2019
Richmond SHRM | Legal Update | February 21, 2019
Mississippi Credit Union Association | MSCUA HR Training | February 12, 2019
Conference for Virginia Magistrates | #MeToo & Harrassment, Employment Law Update | December 5, 2018
Conference for Virginia Magistrates | #MeToo & Harrassment, Employment Law Update | November 28, 2018
ACEC HR Forum | The Role of Human Resources in Securing the Workplace | October 16, 2018
Credit Union Collaborative: IN, KY, LO, MI, TN, VA, WVA | HR University for Credit Union HR Professionals | September 25, 2018
Richmond SHRM | HR on (Mock) Trial: Racial Discrimination | September 20, 2018
VA District Judges Summer Meeting | Harassment | August 7, 2018
VA Circuit Court Clerks | FMLA and ADA | June 6, 2018
Virginia Legal Aid Society Pro Bono Conference | Diversity in the Law | April 20, 2018
Association of Clerks of the District Courts of Virginia 28th Annual Meeting | Employment Law 101 | HR, Diversity, Harassment, Sexual Orientation | April 16, 2018
North Carolina ALA Chapter Education Conference | Updates from the EEOC and DOL | March 13, 2018
Richmond SHRM: Legal Update | Sexual Harassment is Unlawful! | February 13, 2018
SEMINARS + EVENTS
HR LifeLine: 2020 Labor & Employment Webinar Series | Every Thursday in October
HR University for Credit Unions | Nov. 12-14, 2019
2019 Labor and Employment Seminar Series | October 2 - November 5
37th Annual Labor & Employment Seminar Series | September 20, 2018
Workplace Violence: Legal Liabilities for Employers | March 20, 2018
Key Legal Issues in Higher Education | March 1, 2018
Recognition
Victor Cardwell & Dan Summerlin Named to Virginia 500 Power List for Second Year | September 1, 2021
Four Woods Rogers Attorneys Named Lawyer of the Year for Roanoke | August 19, 2021
Forty-four Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers for 2022 | August 19, 2021
Six Woods Rogers Attorneys and Two Practice Groups Ranked by Chambers USA | May 24, 2021
Sixteen Woods Rogers Attorneys Are 2021 Virginia Super Lawyers or Rising Stars | May 6, 2021
31 Woods Rogers Attorneys Listed as “Legal Elite” and “Rising Stars” | November 30, 2020
Victor Cardwell & Dan Summerlin Named to Virginia 500 Power List | September 3, 2020
Five Woods Rogers Attorneys Named a Roanoke Lawyer of the Year | August 24, 2020
Forty-one Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for 2021 | August 20, 2020
Six Woods Rogers Attorneys Ranked by Chambers USA | April 27, 2020
Eighteen Woods Rogers Attorneys Selected as 2020 Virginia Super Lawyers | April 15, 2020
Victor Cardwell Elected as Chair of the VBA Board of Governors | February 6, 2020
“Legal Elite” Ranking Lists 30 Woods Rogers Attorneys | December 10, 2019
Thirty-nine Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for 2020 | August 16, 2019
Six Woods Rogers Attorneys Named a Roanoke Lawyer of the Year | August 15, 2019
Five Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized by Chambers USA | May 24, 2019
Twenty-two Woods Rogers Attorneys Named 2019 Virginia Super Lawyers | April 11, 2019
Victor Cardwell Receives 2019 “Drum Major for Justice” Award from the Roanoke Valley Southern Christian Leadership Conference | January 21, 2019
Virginia Business Names 26 Woods Rogers Attorneys as 2018 “Legal Elite” | December 5, 2018
Thirty-nine Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America | August 16, 2018
Twenty-three Woods Rogers attorneys awarded honors by Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine | April 20, 2018
Thirty-six Woods Rogers Attorneys Are Recognized by Best Lawyers in America | August 15, 2017
Twenty-one Woods Rogers attorneys awarded honors by Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine | May 1, 2017
Twenty-seven Woods Rogers attorneys named by Virginia Business as 2016 “Legal Elite” | December 5, 2016
Two Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized as 2016 ‘Leaders in the Law’ | August 29, 2016
Thirty Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized as 2017 The Best Lawyers in America | August 16, 2016
Twenty-two Woods Rogers Attorneys Awarded Honors by Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine | April 7, 2016
Nineteen Woods Rogers attorneys named by Virginia Business as 2015 “Legal Elite” | December 1, 2015
Thirty Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized as 2016 Best Lawyers in America | August 19, 2015
Twenty-Two Woods Rogers Attorneys Awarded Honors by Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine | April 9, 2015
Thirty-four Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized as 2015 Best Lawyers in America | August 22, 2014
20 Woods Rogers Attorneys Recognized as Virginia Super Lawyers or Rising Stars | July 10, 2014
33 Attorneys Named Best Lawyers in America 2014 | August 15, 2013
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