Media Contact:

Russell Lawson
Marketing Director
Direct: (804) 783-6799
Cell: (804) 240-8862
Fax: (804) 783-7291
Email Russell Lawson

Frank Sutherland Joins Government Relations Team at Richmond Office

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA (February 14, 2007)…Francis A. (Frank) Sutherland has joined the the Government Relations practice group, firm President C. Thomas Ebel announced today.

Sutherland, who retired last year from Jefferson Pilot Financial as Vice President and Insurance Counsel, has extensive experience in regulatory and government relations, lobbying and the provision of legal advice to insurance companies and their executives. His career includes a long stint in the legal department of Life Insurance of Virginia (now Genworth) when it was one of Richmond’s biggest corporate citizens.

“It would be difficult to overstate the incredible value that Frank’s experience will make available to our clients in the insurance business,” said Benjamin R. Lacy IV, chair of the Government Relations practice.

Sutherland is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the North Carolina State Bar. He is a 1962 graduate of Middlebury College and graduated from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1965.

Sutherland served on active duty in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General Corps from 1965-1968 and left the service in 1982 as a reserve officer with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. Sutherland was awarded the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 1974 and served as President of the Richmond CLU Chapter. He chaired the Corporate Counsel Section of the Richmond Bar Association 1987-1988.

In 2004, Sutherland chaired the North Carolina Forum for Research and Economic Education, a non-partisan political research business association which provides businesses with information to make informed political decisions from a business perspective. He has served on numerous state guaranty associations, including service as Chair of the North Carolina Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association. He has been a member of the Association of Life Insurance Counsel since 1982.

Founded more than 150 years ago, Sands Anderson has 76 lawyers practicing among its offices in Richmond, Blacksburg, Fredericksburg and McLean, Virginia, and the Research Triangle of North Carolina. In 2008, it was ranked 9th in the Virginia Lawyers Weekly annual listing of the state’s largest law firms. Sands Anderson provides a full range of legal services to corporations and businesses, healthcare providers, financial institutions, state and local governments, the insurance industry and individuals.