Business Spotlight
High-tech teleconferencing keeps law firm's executives connected

by Doug Forshey
Virginia Business

It takes more than just a telephone these days to keep principals of the Roanoke-based law firm Woods Rogers PLC connected. As the firm branches into other Virginia markets, high-tech teleconferencing has become vital to keeping the firm's lawyers in touch and up to date.

High-speed teleconferencing equipment is installed in each of the firm's offices in Roanoke, Richmond, Danville, Lynchburg and Blacksburg. The technology enables the principals to meet via teleconference on a regular basis to exchange ideas, update each other on case work and make business decisions relating to the firm's future.

Woods Rogers has been serving Virginia businesses for more than a century. It was established in 1893 in Roanoke, but a 1985 merger with another Roanoke law firm expanded the firm's clientele and capabilities. Between 1990 and 2002, the firm added offices in four other Virginia markets. Although the firm's primary focus is Virginia, its lawyers see opportunities outside the commonwealth as well and is already active in the New York and Atlanta markets.

The firm's growth is partly the result of what Thomas R. Bagby, a principal and chairman of Woods Rogers, sees as an unmet need in the market. "As large [law] firms expand, they tend to overlook the middle market. We see this as a great opportunity."

Qualifying what the middle market represents is key to the firm's growth. "The term middle market can mean many different things," according to Nicholas C. Conte, another principal at the firm. "From our perspective, the definition has to do with how many of the client's needs fit our specialized practice areas. We are generally looking at companies with revenues up to $10 million."

Woods Rogers has also been able to expand by capitalizing on business growth created by Virginia's positive business climate. One growing area is its real estate practice, where the firm has worked on local initiatives such as the 75-acre Riverside Centre for Research and Technology. Woods Rogers worked with the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority to help purchase land for the site of a $10 million facility that will be home to the Carilion Biomedical Institute (CBI).

"We've worked with the RRHA for more than 30 years," says Daniel F. Layman Jr., a principal at the Roanoke office. "The authority has adapted new zoning ordinances and is at the cutting edge of land preservation and we have been there to guide them every step of the way."

Identifying market growth has been essential to the firm. Increasingly complex legal areas such as energy, immigration and labor/employment are at the forefront of the firm's expertise, where the lawyers usually find themselves working directly with the CEO, CFO or in-house counsel.

Although Woods Rogers continues to expand its business, the firm doesn't plan on becoming so large that its clients lose the advantage of working with a smaller firm. "Our smaller size is an advantage," says Bagby. "We can offer more attractive pricing along with the same level of expertise that a company could get from much larger firms."

Douglas Forshey was the publisher at Virginia Business and wrote this profile before he left. He is still with Media General, working on new products and market development.