Patrick M. McSweeney
804-783-6802
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Mr. McSweeney is engaged primarily in the practice of civil litigation. He has represented a wide range of parties during his decades of practice, including individuals, governmental bodies, civic organizations and business entities, both large and small. The matters that he has litigated have included constitutional, land use, environmental, antitrust, election and commercial law issues, among others.
His experience as a litigator has taken him to trial and appellate courts throughout Virginia and numerous other states and the District of Columbia. He has been a member of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1974, and has represented numerous clients in that Court.
He has served on numerous corporate boards. Mr. McSweeney has also been recognized by Virginia Business Magazine as one of Virginia’s “Legal Elite” for 2007 in Civil Litigation and by Virgina Super Lawyers as a "Top 50 Super Lawyer" in General Litigation for 2009 and as a "Top 10 Super Lawyer" in Political Law for 2010.
Experience
- Private practice of law, McSWEENEY, CRUMP, CHILDRESS & TEMPLE, P.C. (and its predecessor firms) (1977- Present)
- Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Virginia Commonwealth University (1997, 1999, 2004)
- Chairman, Republican Party of Virginia (1992-1996)
- Chairman, Richmond Regional Planning District Commission (1981-1982)
- Executive Director, Commission on State Governmental Management (1973-1977)
- Acting Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice (1973)
- Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice (1972-1973)
- Deputy Director, Executive Office of United States Attorneys, U.S. Department of Justice (1971-1972)
- Assistant General Counsel, Governor’s Management Study (Va. 1970-1971)
- Private practice of law, Mays, Valentine, Davenport & Moore, Richmond, Virginia (1969-1971)
- Staff Attorney, Taxation and Finance Committee, Virginia Commission on Constitutional Revision (1968)
- Law Clerk, Judge Albert V. Bryan, Sr., United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (1968-1969)
- Editor-in-chief, University of Richmond Law Review (1967-1968)
Articles, Seminars & News
- Civil Litigation Blog
- "Marshall v. Northern Virginia Transportation Authority: The Supreme Court of Virginia Rules That Taxes Can Be Imposed By Elected Bodies Only" Annual Survey, Richmond Law Review (October 2008)
- Weekly newspaper commentary on politics in The Daily Press published in Newport News, Virginia (2001-2006)
- “An Undisciplined Way to Fund State Government Programs,” The Virginia News Letter (December, 2004)
- “The Regional Sales Tax Referendum: A Flawed Approach,” The Virginia News Letter (October, 2002)
- "Tortious Interference with Business Relations and Conspiracy Under Virginia Law," Virginia Trial Lawyers Journal (Summer, 1991)
- "Virginia's New Water Law and Its Effect on the Riparian Doctrine," The Virginia Bar Association Journal (Spring, 1990)
- “Water Rights: Early Common Law to the Present,” Local Government Attorneys of Virginia, Inc. Conference (Spring, 1989)
- "Pitfalls in Environmental Standing," 29 Virginia Bar News 15 (1981)
- Editor of the Virginia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Section newspaper The Docket (1970-1971)
- "Local Government Law in Virginia, 1870-1970," University of Richmond Law Review 174-222 (1970)
Case Results
- Gray v. Virginia Secretary of Transportation, 276 Va. 93; 662 S.E.2d 66 (Va. 2008)
- Marshall v. Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, 275 Va. 419, 657 S.E2d 71 (Va. 2008)
- Miller v. Brown, 503 F.3d 360 (4th Cir. 2007)
- Star Scientific, Inc. v. Beales, 278 F.3d 339 (4th Cir. 2002), cert. denied, 537 U.S. 818 (2002)
- Petersburg Cellular P’ship v. The Bd. of Supervisors of Nottoway County, 205 F.3d 688 (4th Cir. 2000)
- Mary Helen Coal Co. v. Hudson, 235 F.3d 207 (4th Cir. 2000)
- Mary Helen Coal Co. v. Hudson, 164 F.3d 624 (4th Cir. 1998)
- Eastern Enterprises v. Apfel, 522 U.S. 1105 (1998) (140 L. Ed. 2d 99 (1998))
- North Carolina v. FERC, 112 F.3d 1175 (D.C. Cir. 1998), cert. denied, 522 U.S. 1108 (1998)
- Roanoke River Basin Ass'n v. Hudson, 991 F.2d 132 (4th Cir. 1993)
- Roanoke River Basin Ass’n v. Hudson, 502 U.S. 1092 (1992)
- Resource Conservation Mgmt., Inc. v. Bd. of Supervisors of Prince William County, 238 Va. 15, 380 S.E.2d 879 (1989)
- Puffenbarger v. Bd. of Supervisors of Goochland County, 3 Va. Cir. Ct. 321 (1985)
- Gee v. Boyd, 471 U.S. 1058 (1985)
- Virginia Citizens for Better Reclamation v. Watt, 735 F.2d 1359 (4th Cir. 1984)
- Menzel v. County Util. Corp., 721 F.2d 91 (4th Cir. 1983)
- Citizens for the Pres. of Nibbs Creek v. Bergland, No. 79-0778-R (E.D. Va. 1980)
Practice Areas
Education
- University of Virginia, B.A. (English), 1964
- T.C. Williams School of Law,
University of Richmond,
Bachelor of Laws, 1968
- Virginia, 1968
- United States District Court for
the Eastern and Western
Districts of Virginia - United States Court of Appeals
for the Fourth and Fifth Circuits - Supreme Court for the
United States of America
- Virginia Bar Association
- Richmond Bar Association
- President, Virginia Conservative Grassroots PAC
- Voting Integrity Project, Inc.
- Member, Board of Directors (1996-2000)
- Chairman, Republican Party of Virginia (1992-1996)
- Richmond-First Club
- President (1990-1991)
- Republican Party of Virginia
- Chairman, Policy Committee (1987-1992)
- Virginia Jefferson Association
- Member (1985-1987)
- Board Member (1984-1996)
- Virginia Bar Association
- Chairman, Committee on Administrative Law (1981-1985)
- Powhatan County Planning Commission
- Member (1977-1983)
- Richmond Regional Planning District Commission
- Member (1977-1983)
- Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions
- Vice President (1980-1982)
- Richmond Regional Planning District Commission
- Chairman (1980-1981)
- James Monroe Memorial Foundation
- Member of the Board of Directors