Brendan O'Toole focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, as well as matters involving professional liability defense, insurance defense, business torts and white collar crime. His experience includes representing corporate and individual clients on a wide range of issues.
Brendan O'Toole focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, as well as matters involving professional liability defense, insurance defense, business torts and white collar crime. His experience includes representing corporate and individual clients on a wide range of issues, including:
- Defending a major pharmaceutical company against a $25 million brain injury claim in federal court;
- Representation of West Virginia's largest law firms in a legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty case;
- Representing a major university and its chancellor in a First Amendment case;
- Defending a dentist against claims asserted by an inmate pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983;
- Sought rescission of a malpractice policy against an attorney accused of defrauding his client of nearly $3 million;
- Challenging the constitutionality of the federal "honest services" statute as part of the defense of a client accused of racketeering;
- Representation of a law firm spokesperson accused of defamation, abuse of process and conspiracy.
Mr. O'Toole has handled all aspects of litigation, including taking and defending depositions, arguing motions in state and federal court, and drafting appellate briefs in the Supreme Court of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. O’Toole served as a law clerk to the Hon. Dennis W. Dohnal of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and as a judicial clerk to the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia. Mr. O'Toole is licensed to practice in Virginia, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
He is the author of “Closing Down the Stables: The ‘Reason to Believe’ Standard and the Virginia Racing Commission,” an article published in the Summer 2004 edition of The Administrative Law Newsletter (a publication of the Administrative Law Section of the Virginia State Bar). Mr. O’Toole is also involved in the community as a participant with the Association for the Support of Children with Cancer (ASK), Young Adult Survivor’s Advisory Group. Additionally, Mr. O’Toole is a board member of Communities in Schools of Chesterfield (CIS), an organization that utilizes both public and private partnerships to provide prevention and intervention services to at-risk youth and their families in Chesterfield County.
Mr. O’Toole received a bachelor of arts degree from Wake Forest University, with honors, and a juris doctor degree from the University of Richmond School of Law, where he was elected by the faculty to the National Order of the Barrister. While in law school, Mr. O’Toole was a senior associate with the Richmond Journal of Global Law and Business, the 2004 Intrascholastic Trial Advocacy Competition champion, a semi-finalist in the Client Counseling and Negotiation Competition, and a member of the Honor Council Student Advocate Corps.