Susan M. Pesner
Principal
Email: susan@spesnerlaw.com
Phone: 703 712 7003
Fax: 571 378 1448
Connect with Ms. Pesner on the professional networking site.
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”
— Pablo Picasso
Emphasizes real estate transactions, contracts, real estate and land development, easements, residential construction matters, wills, trusts and estate planning and business transactions.
Ms. Pesner also acts as an expert witness in trials involving liability of real estate lawyers, real estate agents, real estate brokers and settlement agents and litigation involving title matters.
Education
The American University (B.A., 1973)
Washington College of Law of The American University (J.D., 1976).
Bar Admissions
Virginia
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Activities
Member, Council of the Virginia State Bar (1997-2003; 2009-2012;2020-2023)
Member, Executive Committee of the Council of the Virginia State Bar (1998-2003; 2009-2012)
Member, Northern Virginia Association of Realtors Attorney Roundtable (2011-Present)
Founding Chair, Virginia Association of Realtors® Attorney Roundtable (2014-2018)
Chair, (1996-1997) Board of Governors of the Virginia State Bar, Real Property Section
Chair, Ethics Subcommittee Real Estate Section, Virginia State Bar (1991-2014)
Member, Council of the Real Estate Section of the Virginia Bar Association (1995-2002; 2008-2015) and Area Representative (1996- present) Founding Chair, Virginia Association of Realtors® Attorney Roundtable
Chair, (1999-2002) Lawyers Malpractice Insurance Committee, Virginia State Bar
Member, Title, Conveyancing and Bar Related Title Insurance Funds Committee and Research Task Force, American Bar Association (2007-present)
Fellow, American Bar Foundation
Fellow, Virginia Bar Foundation
Awards & Recognitions
Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame – Class of 2021
Washington DC Top Lawyers
Virginia Top Lawyers, Washingtonian Magazine 2023
Leaders in the Law – Virginia Lawyers Weekly – Class of 2020
Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register for Preeminent Women Lawyers
Best Lawyers for 2022 – 2025, US News and World Report Real Estate and Trusts and Estates
Who's Who in America
Virginia Super Lawyers (Real Estate) 2006-2024
Washington D.C. Super Lawyers (Real Estate) 2007-2024
Virginia Top Lawyer, Northern Virginia Magazine
Virginia’s Legal Elite, Virginia Business 2012 – 2024
Northern Virginia Magazine Top Lawyers 2019 – 2024
Recipient, Traver Scholar Award (2008), Virginia Bar Association and Virginia Continuing Legal Education, recognizing outstanding contribution for education of lawyers
VA CLE lecturer
Featured in Law Practice Today - Women Rainmakers, American Bar Association, November 13, 2020
Women Leaders – Top Rated Lawyers 2023 – The American Lawyer and The National Law Journal
Included in the 2024 and 2025 edition of Best Lawyers in America® for Real Estate Law
Articles, Publications & Seminars
Author/Lecturer: "Settlements During Crisis and Continuing Updates on Deeds", Annual Real Estate Seminar VA CLE May 2020
Author/Lecturer: "Essentials of Drafting Deeds", VA CLE 2019
Lecturer: Fidelity National Title Group - 2019 & 2024
Author/Lecturer: "Deed Issues: Every Deed Tells a Story", Annual Real Estate Seminar VA CLE
Author/Lecturer: "Deed Issues II: Those Other Deeds - Every Deed Tells a Story (continued)", Annual Real Estate Seminar VA CLE; American Bar Association
How Soon We Forget or Going Down the Slippery Slope-Split Settlement and Lay Settlement Agencies’ Attempt To Act On Behalf of Sellers, The Fee Simple, Newsletter of the Real Estate Section of the Virginia State Bar and the VLTA Examiner
Best Practices in Closing Real Estate Transactions, Virginia Continuing Legal Education
Feeling Handcuffed-RESPA and AfBA, Virginia Land Title Association
Playing In Dirt, Advanced Business Law Section, Virginia Continuing Legal Education
Attorneys as Settlement Agent Under CRESPA and the Role of the Virginia State Bar, Virginia Law Foundation, 15th Annual Real Estate Practice Seminar, May 1997, republished as Attorneys as Settlement Agents - Practice Tips for Working Under CRESPA, Virginia Lawyer, Vol. 46, No. 1, June/July 1997
“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
– Warren Buffett