Attorney Profiles

Find out more about the firm’s lawyers by reviewing their personal biographies:

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Contact Cawthorn, Picard, Rowe, Deskevich & Gavin online or at 804-320-7186 for no-nonsense legal representation you can rely upon. We help individual and business clients throughout Virginia.

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William R. Cawthorn

William R. Cawthorn was born on September 25, 1945 in Petersburg, Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1972 from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond where he was a member of the McNeill Scholastic Honor Society. Mr. Cawthorn served in the Artillery Branch of the United States Army from 1966 to 1970 and attained the rank of First Lieutenant.

Mr. Cawthorn, a member of the Virginia State Bar, is the founder of the firm. He has extensive experience in residential and commercial real estate transactions, mortgage lending and finance, business development and creditors' rights.

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Barbara Smith Picard

E-mail: bpicard@aol.com | Phone: 804-327-5761 | V-Card

Born

  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, July 4, 1957

Admitted

  • 1982, Virginia
  • 1982, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Virginia
  • 1983, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit
  • 1994, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Western District of Virginia

Education 

  • Ohio Wesleyan University (B.A., 1979)
  • University of Richmond (J.D., 1982)
  • T.C. Williams Law Review

Member 

  • Collaborative Professionals of Richmond
  • Richmond Collaborative Divorce Professionals
  • International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
  • Virginia Creditors Bar Association
  • Virginia State Bar
  • Metro Richmond Family Law Bar Association

Practice areas 

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George W. Rowe

E-mail: gwrowe@cawthorn.net | Phone: 804-327-5762 | V-Card

George W. Rowe graduated from Randolph-Macon College in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.  He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1973 from the T. C. Williams School of Law of the University of Richmond where he was a member of Phi Delta Phi.  From February of 1974 until the present, Mr. Rowe has practiced law in the Richmond area, concentrating on commercial real estate transactions, condominium documents, residential real estate transactions, homebuilder representation, commercial lender representation and business transactions.  He has represented thrifts and banks in lending transactions throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and in most southeastern states, as well as in Texas and Colorado.  Mr. Rowe also has extensive experience representing developers in multi-family housing transactions, mixed-use developments and retail facilities, and in representing homebuilders.

Mr. Rowe is a member of the American Bar Association, within which he also is also a member of the Business Law Section and the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section.  He served for several years as a member of the Nonrecourse Transaction Subcommittee of the Mortgages and Other Debt Financing Committee of the American Bar Association.  Mr. Rowe is also a member of the Virginia Bar Association (former member of the Real Estate Council of the Real Estate Law Section), Bar Association of the City of Richmond, Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Bar Association and the Virginia State Bar.  As a lecturer in continuing legal education, he has addressed diverse topics, including commercial leasing law, mechanic's lien problems and title insurance matters.  Virginia Business magazine selected Mr. Rowe as among its Legal Elite for 2002 and 2003.

Born

  • Newport News, Virginia, March 18, 1946

Admitted

  • 1974, Virginia
  • 1994, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Virginia

Education

  • Randolph-Macon College (B.A., 1968)
  • University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law (J.D., 1973)
  • Phi Delta Phi

Member

  • Richmond, Virginia Bar Association (Member, Board of Governors, Real Estate Section)
  • American Bar Association (Member, Real Estate Finance Committee, Real Property, Probate and Trust Section)
  • Bar Association of the City of Richmond
  • Chesterfield-Colonial Bar Association

Practice areas

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Duane A. Deskevich

E-mail: d.deskevich@cawthorn.net | Phone: 804-288-7999 | V-Card

Duane A. Deskevich graduated from The American University, Washington, D.C., in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and Justice and received his Juris Doctor degree in 1996 from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. While in law school, Mr. Deskevich assisted in the research and drafting of several real estate law publications, including Virginia Real Estate Closings, Third Edition, by W. Wade Berryhill and the University of Richmond Law Review Annual Property Survey.

Mr. Deskevich is admitted to practice in the Commonwealths of Virginia and Pennsylvania as well as the District of Columbia. His primary practice areas include commercial and residential real estate transactions, corporate and business law, creditors' rights, and wills and estate administration.

Mr. Deskevich has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Richmond School of Law.

Mr. Deskevich is a member of the Virginia State Bar; the Virginia Bar Association, including its Real Estate Law and Wills, Trusts and Estates Sections; the Pennsylvania State Bar; the District of Columbia Bar; and the Bar Association of the City of Richmond, Virginia.

Born

  • Falls Church, Virginia, August 8, 1969

Admitted

  • 1996, Virginia
  • 1997, District of Columbia
  • 2002, Pennsylvania

Education

  • The American University (B.A., 1991)
  • University of Richmond (J.D., 1996)

Member

  • Bar Association of Richmond
  • Virginia Bar Association
  • Virginia State Bar
  • The District of Columbia Bar

Practice areas

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Charles A. Gavin

E-mail: c.gavin@cawthorn.net | Phone: 804-288-7999 | V-Card

Charles A. Gavin, originally from Franklin, Va., is a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law. He was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1990 and is a principal serving as president of Cawthorn, Picard, Rowe, Deskevich & Gavin, P.C.

Mr. Gavin maintains a general practice, affording him the ability to represent a large client base in the areas of creditors' rights, personal injury, products liability, divorce, family law, federal and state criminal law, traffic violations, and commercial and residential real estate. He currently leads the creditors' rights division of the firm, which handles high-volume medical collections and represents healthcare and collection clients in matters including Stark Act litigation, workers compensation issues and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act litigation.

Born

  • Franklin, Virginia, July 26, 1965

Admitted

  • 1990, Virginia State Bar

Education

  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (B.S., 1987)
  • University of Richmond, T.C. Williams School of Law (J.D., 1990)

Practice areas 

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Jennifer Elaine Shiflett Rosen

E-mail: j.rosen@cawthorn.net | Phone: 804-327-5766 | V-Card

Born

  • Winchester, Virginia, May 8, 1972

Admitted

  • 1997, Virginia

Education

  • University of Virginia (B.A., 1994)
  • T.C. Williams School of Law University of Richmond (J.D., cum laude, 1997)
  • Associate Editor, Perspectives on Law and the Public Interest, 1995–1997
  • McNeil Law Society
  • Clerk, Virginia Supreme Court Justice Lacey, University of Richmond judicial clerkship program

Member

  • Collaborative Professionals of Richmond
  • International Association of Collaborative Professionals
  • Virginia State Bar
  • Chesterfield County Bar Association
  • Metro Richmond Family Law Bar Association

Practice areas

  • Domestic relations
  • Adoption law
  • Real estate
  • Collections
  • Guardianship
  • Divorce
  • Family law
  • Child custody
  • Child support    

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Edward A. Loughran III

E-mail: e.loughran@cawthorn.net | Phone: 804-327-5795 | V-Card

Edward A. Loughran III graduated from George Mason University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing.  He received his Juris Doctor degree in 2005 from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. 

Before entering law school, Mr. Loughran was a manager with a mortgage company focused on non-conforming lending.  This position, as well as his experience as a real estate investor and landlord, provides Mr. Loughran with practical knowledge about issues involving unusual real estate transactions, mortgage lending, creditors’ rights and credit reporting agencies.  A substantial portion of Mr. Loughran’s practice is focused on creditors' rights and collection of accounts receivable for retail, financial, business and medical clients. 

Whether related to transactional work or litigation, Mr. Loughran is focused on providing practical advice to his clients who include real estate investors, commercial and residential landlords, real estate agents, small businesses and consumer finance companies.

Mr. Loughran is a member of the American Bar Association and the Virginia State Bar.

Born

  • Washington, D.C., 1970

Admitted

  • 2006, Virginia

Education

  • George Mason University (B.S., Marketing, 1999)
  • T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond (J.D., 2005)

Member 

  • Virginia State Bar

Practice areas

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