Brian Pitney serves as the leader of the Business group. He counsels clients in the areas of business formation, commercial real estate, commercial transactions, and mergers and acquisitions. 

Brian has nearly 20 years of experience representing individuals and companies as their general counsel. A sampling of his clientele includes real estate developers, manufacturers, general contractors, private and non-profit foundations, franchisees, financial institutions, and licensed professional service providers.

Brian's experience includes representation of:

• entrepreneurs in startups and acquisitions;
• financial institutions in workouts and foreclosures;
• individuals and companies in commercial real estate transactions, including formation of holding entities and tax deferred exchanges;
• multi-state automobile dealerships;
• franchisees in reviewing and negotiating franchise agreements and UFOCs;
• asbestos abatement companies and general contractors performing services for governmental and private clients;
• shopping center and other commercial developers in land acquisitions, construction and leasing issues; and
• multi-state transportation and logistics companies.

On behalf of his clients, Brian has appeared at administrative hearings in Virginia before various boards of the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation, the Department of Environmental Quality, the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Department of Charitable Gaming, the Department of Lottery, and the United States Department of Agriculture. He also appeared regularly before many Virginia State Courts, the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Virginia, the United States Bankruptcy Courts in Richmond and Alexandria, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit early in his career prior to focusing on his transactional practice.

Publications and News

• Listed in Virginia Business's "2011 Legal Elite, The Best Lawyers in Virginia" in Business Law. 
• Listed in Virginia Business's "2010 Legal Elite, The Best Lawyers in Virginia" in Business Law. 
• Listed in Virginia Business's "2009 Legal Elite, The Best Lawyers in Virginia" in Business Law.
• Listed in Business/Corporate section, 2009 Virginia Super Lawyers, July 2009  
• Listed in Virginia Business's "2008 Legal Elite, The Best Lawyers in Virginia" in Business Law.
• Youth Services acquisition case study and purchaser's news release
• Mergers Happen case study and purchaser's news release
• Listed in Virginia Business's "2007 Legal Elite, The Best Lawyers in Virginia" in Business Law.
• Listed in Business/Corporate section, 2007 Virginia Super Lawyers , July 2007
• Listed in Virginia Business's "2006 Legal Elite, The Best Lawyers in Virginia" in Business Law.
• Listed in Business/Corporate section, 2006 Virginia Super Lawyers , July 2006
• Contributing editor, ABA Section of Business Law's Revised Model Stock Purchase Agreement with Commentary
• Celadon Group Acquires Business and Assets of Highway Express, Inc., SmartMoney.com. August 21, 2003
  Ben Lacy and Brian Pitney represented Highway Express, Inc. in the deal.

• Author, The Legal Minute - For Your Eyes Only: Virginia Combats Identity Theft , The Retail Review (August/September 2003)

• Co-author, Recent Developments in Virginia ABC Law, The Retail Review, November/December 2002
• Contributing author, Virginia Retail Merchant Association's The Retail Review (2002 - present editions)
• Co-author, The Virginia Lawyer, A Basic Practice Handbook, (1996) and (2001)
• Brian R. Pitney, Note, Unlocking the Chamber Doors: Limiting Confidentiality in Proceedings Before the Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission, 26 U. Rich. L. Rev. 367 (1992)
• Roy A. Hoagland & Brian R. Pitney, Land Use Regulations and the "Takings" Issue, CCVA Report, Oct. 1990, at 7