Family Law

It is a real pleasure to assist divorcing couples who don?t hate each other in amicably resolving high asset complex cases.

• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
• Name Changes
• Restraining Orders
• Enforcement Actions

• Domestic Violence

• Child Support
• Custody
• Paternity
• Visitation

• Living Together/Cohabitation
• Marriage
• Prenuptial & Postnuptial Agreements

• Grandparent Rights

Divorce

It is a real pleasure to assist divorcing couples who don?t hate each other in amicably resolving high asset complex cases.

• Alimony/Palimony/Spousal Support
• Annulment
• Child Support
• Custody/Visitation Rights
• Delinquent Support Payments
• Division of Property
• Mediation/Alternative Dispute Resolution(ADR)
• Restraining Orders
• Uncontested Divorce
• Collaborative Law

VA, Oct 1989
Bar Number: 30865

I am certified by the Virginia Supreme Court for mediation at the Circuit Court family level, and I am a trained collaborative law practitioner.

I have been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Virginia (January 8, 1990), the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (January 25, 1991), the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (April 2, 1991), and the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (February 5, 1991).

? Member of the Virginia State Bar since 1989, and Family Law Section Member
? Member of the Fairfax County Bar Association since 1990, and
        Family Law Section Member
? Member of the Loudoun County Bar Association since 2000
? Member of the VBA/VSB Virginia Alternative Dispute Resolution Joint Committee
        since 2005
? Member of the Virginia Mediation Network since 2005
? Member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals since 2005
? Member of the Collaborative Professionals of Northern Virginia, since 2005
? Member of the Virginia Collaborative Professionals since 2007

I regularly attend continuing legal education seminars in the areas of family law and litigation, mediation, and collaboration, always exceeding the Virginia requirements. As of July, 2009, I have received approximately 200 hours of alternative dispute resolution training.

My book, The Four Ways of Divorce: A Concise Guide to What you Need to Know about Divorce using Litigation, Negotiation, Collaboration and Mediation was published in February of 2009, currently available through www.Amazon.com, and through www.thefourwaysofdivorce.com.

A typical mediation case will involve resolution of child and spousal support, custody and visitation, the possession and equity of the former marital home, the division of retirement plans and accounts, and the division of investment accounts. Some of my more complex cases have dealt with assets such as investment and/or farm properties, royalties, and film rights. A great number of my clients are concerned with business interests or professional practices, complex retirement plans, stock options, and military benefits, with the attendant tax consequences.

Many of my mediation cases involve two caring parents finding the best way to maximize each of their involvement with their children.

More distressing is when a litigation case becomes an all out war due to the need for an abused spouse to stand up to and take on (usually her) spouse, because more often than not the children are caught in the crossfire.

Of course the firm also handles uncontested divorces, the negotiation of Separation Agreements, and less complex family law and divorce litigation.

1

Virginia

Rachel L. Virk, P.C. handles adversarial and non-adversarial divorce cases. I will personally care for all aspects of your case, whether simple and uncontested, or whether involving custody, support, and/or the division of marital assets. Many of my cases involve business and professional practices, stock options, and government and military benefits.

While we do not use a message service, in appropriate cases we will make arrangements for direct contact with me after hours. In addition, when I am out of the office I check e-mails at least once each morning and once in the evening, including on the weekends.

I have been litigating and negotiating custody, support, restraining order, and divorce cases throughout Northern Virginia since 1989. My offices were located in Fairfax County for approximately ten years, and then in Loudoun County since 2000. I became Certified by the Virginia Supreme Court for Family Law Mediation in 2001, and have been mediating divorce cases since then. I became a trained Collaborative Law Practitioner in 2005. I established my own professional practice in 2005, and became an incorporated professional practice in 2007.

From approximately 1990 to 1999 I worked for a ten attorney law firm in Springfield, Virginia, representing members of various unions in a variety of family court proceedings throughout Northern Virginia. The firm also had offices in Maryland and in Washington, D.C. I conducted a dynamic domestic relations practice involving heavy litigation. I was responsible for all aspects of a large. primarily domestic, relations caseload including divorce, child support establishment, modification and enforcement, custody, visitation, temporary and permanent protective orders, prenuptial agreements, military withholding orders; wage withholding, pension and retirement orders, Division of Child Support Enforcement (DCSE) proceedings, Child In Need of Services (CHINS) proceedings; five day and dispositional hearings, Informal Conference administrative proceedings and the appeal thereof, the termination of parental rights, and annulment. In addition, I handled criminal misdemeanors including family assault and traffic cases, along with basic estate planning cases.

From 1999 to 2005, I litigated, negotiated, settled and mediated increasingly sophisticated divorce cases involving the equitable distribution of marital debt and of marital assets, including stock options and business interests, and conducted a divorce mediation practice.

In 2005, I established Rachel L. Virk, L.C., which became Rachel L. Virk, P.C., a professional corporation, in 2007.

Prior to my marriage in 1996 I was very involved with the Fairfax County Bar Association, serving on numerous committees listed below. I am a member of various county, state and regional professional associations listed under the Qualifications tab above. In finding a healthy balance between helping others through the turmoil surrounding the dissolution of their marriages and my personal life, I spend my limited off hours with my husband and two children. In between, I try to find the time for exercise and reading.

Member, Board of Directors of Friends of the Fairfax County Victim Assistance Network 1992.

• Was actively involved in the following committees and sections of the Fairfax Bar Association:
• Family Law Section 1991 – 1998
• Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Committee 1991 – 1994
        Family Court Subcommittee member 1993
        Chair, Docketing Subcommittee 1994
• Professionalism Committee 1993 – 1997
        Client Relations Subcommittee member 1993
        Court – Appointed Attorneys Subcommittee member 1995
        Lawyer Assistance Subcommittee 1996
• Kassabian Award Committee 1995
• Court Tour Program 1995
• Membership Committee 1995
• Public Relations Committee 1995
• Long Range Planning Committee 1996
• Legislative Committee 1997
• Elections Committee 1998

Kathy is our office paralegal.

(703) 444-0393

Our office is open for appointments Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., although we are often in the office earlier and later.

Yes

My Office Manager speaks Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. His Accounting Assistant speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Potomac Falls/Sterling, VA
Our offices are located just down the road from
the Dulles Town Center Mall in
Potomac Falls/Sterling, VA

All work at Rachel L. Virk, P.C. is billed hourly.

As of July, 2009, the attorney rate is $375 per hour and the paralegal rate is $150 per hour. Effort is made to maximize the use of the paralegal staff in appropriate areas.

No. However, my book can be purchased for $19.95. The book includes information similar to the information a client would receive during a consultation at my hourly rate.

Most litigation and negotiation clients will be expected to deposit between two to five thousand dollars. More involved cases require larger deposits. Mediation payment is made at the end of each session, with a two thousand dollar deposit made before the Agreement is drafted.