Why we left the big firm
In 2003, Elena Vargas and Marcus Vaughn shared an office wall at a 200-lawyer firm and a private agreement: if either of them ever had a case they could not give enough hours to, they would leave. They left the same week — with three clients, a leased suite on Cary Street, and a refusal to grow past the point where both partners still read every complaint before it was filed.
Fifteen years later the suite is larger and the docket is busier, but the rule holds. If a matter needs a specialist we do not have, we refer it. If it fits, one of us is responsible for it from intake to closing letter.
How we practice
- Preparation over posture. We try cases when settlement is wrong. We settle when trial is theater.
- Plain explanations. You leave every meeting knowing the next three steps — on paper if you want them.
- No surprise invoices. Fee agreements are written before work begins. Contingency matters stay contingency.
- Local courts. Richmond Circuit, Chesterfield, Henrico, and the Eastern District of Virginia are where we spend most of our time.
Community
Both partners teach trial skills at the University of Richmond School of Law's advocacy program. The firm sponsors the Legal Aid Justice Center's annual clinic and takes a limited number of pro bono housing cases each year.