R. Shawn Majette
Direct Dial: (804) 698-6233 | Facsimile: (804) 649-0654
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Mr. Majette directs the Firm’s elder law section.
Mr. Majette is a 1976 graduate, magna cum laude, of the University of Richmond, with major concentrations in English and Economics. A member of the national Economics Honor Fraternity, Mr. Majette also edited the Richmond College literary magazine and was the 1976 Charles T. Norman Medal graduate for outstanding student in English.
Mr. Majette received his juris doctorate from the College of William and Mary in 1979. While a student, he served as law clerk for a Norfolk law firm, an intern for the Norfolk Office of the United States Attorney, and as research assistant for the National Center for State Courts.
Mr. Majette focuses his practice in the legal aspects of mental and physical disability, with a strong emphasis on the legal, medical, financial, and management issues involved in caring for the incapacitated elderly. He has served as a Commissioner in Chancery of the Richmond Circuit Court for more than a decade. As the founding chairperson of the Virginia Bar Association Elder Law Section from 1993 to 1996, he helped to raise awareness of the special issues involved in his practice area throughout the Commonwealth. He has served as chair of the Section’s legislative affairs subcommittee, and the Section Council. Mr. Majette also served as the chair of the Third District Disciplinary Committee of the Virginia State Bar.
Mr. Majette has held numerous appointments to Virginia General Assembly advisory committees and has assisted in drafting several Virginia statutes relating to elder law and mental health issues, including revisions to the law of civil commitment, emergency medical consent, guardianship, and the prevention of financial abuse of incapacitated adults under durable powers of attorney.
Since 1987, Mr. Majette has served as a Special Justice for adult mental health commitment hearings for the City of Richmond.
A prolific writer and speaker on elder and mental health law topics, Mr. Majette has been a frequent speaker for the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, of which he has been a member since 1989. In addition he has served as president of the Academy’s Virginia chapter. Mr. Majette’s national and local presentations for the National Academy, the National Geriatric Care Managers Association, the Virginia State Bar, local chapters of the Virginia Society of Public Accountants, and several national legal, accounting and medical continuing education programs have been widely attended and well received. Since 1991, Mr. Majette has been an annual speaker for the Annual Elder Law Seminars sponsored by the Virginia Law Foundation. Mr. Majette has written several articles for various legal publications, including his 1998 chapter addressing Virginia issues connected with powers of attorney, long term care insurance and Medicaid for the standard Virginia treatise on wills and trust practice, Estate Planning in Virginia. Mr. Majette is a recent member of the prestigious Special Needs Alliance, a network of America’s leading disability and public benefits lawyers. In 1999, Mr. Majette was recognized by Richmond Magazine as the top lawyer in Richmond in the field of Elder Law and was recognized in the annual publication “The Best Lawyers in America” in 2007.
R. Shawn Majette's Practice Areas
