Donna Dougherty was raised in a small town in Ohio. She attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, followed by Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in Cleveland Ohio. After graduating from law school, Donna relocated to the Northern Virginia area.
Donna began practicing law in Fairfax, Alexandria, and Tysons Virginia focusing on civil litigation to include family and real estate law. In 2010, Donna opened her own Law Firm, Donna Dougherty Law, which focused on family law. Then, in 2018, Donna partnered with two other attorneys forming a firm called, Northern Virginia Law, P.C.. That firm practiced not only Family Law, but also Criminal Law and Personal Injury.
In forming Family Law Group, Donna has returned to focusing on family law, to include divorce, custody and visitation, support, equitable distribution, adoption, and estate law. Donna has continued to focus her practice on complex litigation involving families, to include same-sex divorces, contested adoptions, high asset divorces, and international custody cases involving the Hague Convention.
Donna has handled a variety of complex domestic relations litigation from Arlington County, Fairfax County, Prince William County, Fauquier County, Warren County and more. Additionally, while serving as a Guardian ad Litem, Donna successfully defended the ruling of the Fairfax Circuit Court regarding a complex custody matter which included components of alienation and mental health issues.
Not only is Donna a strong advocate for her client, but she is also a strong advocate for fellow practitioners and the local community. To facilitate this, Donna has been active in her local Bar Associations since she began practicing law. She served on the Young Lawyers Board with the Fairfax Bar Association and the Judicial Liaison Committee with the Prince William County Bar Association. She also served as Co-Chair of the Family Law Section of the Prince William County Bar Association wherein she was pivotal in coordinating and authoring engaging and interactive family law CLEs and mentorship opportunities for family law practitioners. Currently, Donna is President of the Prince William County Bar Association.
Additionally, Donna is an active member of the Prince William Virginia Women’s Attorney’s Association, serving as both President-Elect and President. Through these associations, she regularly creates, presents, and moderates CLEs. Outside of the associations, she is also active in the local community by working with various charitable organizations, assisting with political campaigns, and interacting with members of the legislature on various issues.
In addition to all her other accomplishments, Donna also serves as a Guardian ad Litem for children in Prince William, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Fairfax Counties. She has served in this role since she began practicing law as she finds serving as an advocate for children in Family Law and Abuse and Neglect matters as one of the most important things she does as an attorney. Both in and out of the courtroom Donna is known for her strength, generosity of spirit, innovativeness, leadership, and desire to advocate for those in need.
Honors & Awards
• Rising Star, Virginia Super Lawyers – 2013-2014
• Super Lawyer, Virginia Super Lawyers – 2015 to the present
• 10 Best Female Attorney, American Institute of Family Law Attorneys – 2016 – 2017
• Woman of Distinction, Honor’s Edition – 2017
• Nationally Ranked Top 10 Attorney Award, National Academy of Family Law Attorney – 2018
• Top 100 Family Lawyer in the State of Virginia, The American Society of Legal Advocates – 2018
• Top Lawyer, Northern Virginia Magazine – 2018 – 2019
• President’s Award, Fairfax County Bar Association – 2018 – 2019
Memberships
• Virginia Women’s Attorney Association, 2006 to the present
- President-Elect of the Prince William Chapter of the VWAA – 2019
- President of the Prince William Chapter of the VWAA – 2020
- Membership Chair
- Legislative Affairs Committee Co-Chair
• Virginia Trial Lawyers Association - 2012 to Present
• Prince William County Bar Association - 2011 to Present
- President, 2021
- President Elect, 2020
- Judicial Liaison Committee
- Family Law Section Co-Chair
• Virginia State Bar
• Fairfax Bar Association
AV Preeminent®: The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him
or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Distinguished: An excellent rating for a lawyer with some experience. This rating indicates the attorney is widely
respected by their peers for high professional achievement and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
