Firm History

Smith Strong, PLC began as an idea to provide world-class service as a boutique family law firm, serving individuals and their families.  Attorney Van Smith began Smith Strong, PLC with a five page website he made himself, an I-Phone, and a laptop in January 2012.

Highly trained staff, rigid development of systems, and dogged commitment to quality representation soon followed.  Growth was immediate and continued.

Smith Strong, PLC has doubled in size each year since it’s founding, while expanding from just divorce and custody matters to also including sophisticated estate planning and elder law solutions.  It opened its Williamsburg branch in 2013, with each Richmond attorney devoting one day each week to the branch location.

Attorney Van Smith began with a small 7 foot by 8-foot office with no windows in January 2012, the size of a nice walk-in closet.  Three and a half years later, on August 20, 2015, he closed on an office building just west of Willow Lawn/Libbie Mill on Staples Mill.

We are richly blessed at Smith Strong, PLC.

Despite our growth, we keep our client membership per attorney small to ensure quality service in all areas of family law and estate planning.

 

The Story of How Smith Strong, PLC Got its Name

So, who is Strong?


In creating an innovative law firm, we had to begin with our name.  The Law Offices of Van Smith, in my view, had two problems: 

(1) No one ever gets Van right.  "Dan?  Ben?  Oh, Van, really, that's your real name?  Is that a family name?  [yes and yes, by the way]; and

(2) It was uninteresting.  Everyone, it seems, lists their practice as Law Offices of . . . . 

Faced with these two issues, I took a walk.  A long walk. 

I thought about the spirit of the firm--what we hoped to bring to our clients and what we valued as a firm.  I thought about encouraging words that I had shared with my clients in difficult moments.  I thought about innovative companies that I admire:  Apple, Amazon, and Google, unusual names indeed.

I thought about difficult moments to get to where I am today--setbacks and struggles.  I thought about the condition of our economy right now.  I thought about how most people, when they meet with me, need strength for the journey ahead.

I looked up, and said aloud, "Strong." 

Smith Strong, PLC is solely owned and operated by attorney Van Smith.