Happy President’s Day to all, My name is Rex Flynn and I have the good pleasure of being personally acquainted with a number of the candidates you all will be called to vote upon. I bring you good tidings from Northern Virginia, and I would have loved to make these remarks in person, however today is my birthday and I have prearranged plans. I am blessed to have served the legal community from the local bar all the way up to the state bar level - and during that service, I’ve had the occasion to observe the following individuals, who I offer my highest endorsement: Hon. Jane Reynolds - Circuit Court (15th Circuit) I have known Judge Reynolds perhaps the longest of these candidates. If anyone has profoundly changed and reshaped my life, it is Judge Reynolds. By way of background, I am blessed to serve as President of the ODBA, I am the immediate past president of the Northern Virginia Black Attorneys’ Association, and a past president of the Arlington County Bar Association. In addition to those leadership roles, I serve on several Virginia State Bar committees and Boards, including the Judicial Council, Executive Committee of the VSB, Board of Governors for the Diversity Conference, and many other committees. I would not have been in ANY of these positions were it not for her. I initially met her when she was an opposing counsel in a divorce case over 10 years ago. At the time I was not a member of ANY bar associations, boards, anything. For her part, she was then-president of the ODBA, and she encouraged me, quietly and patiently to get involved with not only ODBA, but with my local bars, NOVABAA, and my community. Because of her, I also attended the Sorensen Institute’s 2023 class - though I had to withdraw due to my father’s passing. She is precisely who you want serving on the bench. She genuinely cares about people, and she cares about getting the right result. She is a tireless worker, and someone who has always been generous with her time and energy. She will be a boon to the Circuit Court, and I give Judge Reynolds my highest recommendation. Hon. Dipti Pidikiti-Smith - Circuit Court (19th Circuit) I have known Judge Pidikiti-Smith since she was an attorney with LSNV. I can honestly say without hesitation that Judge Pidikiti-Smith is simply one of the best human beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. She has such a genuine love of people, and she always looks for people’s humanity. Since she has been on the bench, I don’t believe I have seen any of her peers work as hard to get the right result as her. She didn’t come from a criminal practice background but she spent so much time and energy dedicated to improving her familiarity with the area of practice. She has the perfect demeanor and temperament for serving as a judge, and her background and familiarity with matters involving indigent parties will serve her well on the bench. I’m most amazed with Judge Pidikiti-Smith’s modesty and humility. She routinely walks around the Commonwealth’s busiest courthouse in the main corridors by herself and unassumingly. With many judges, one is tempted to get the sense that they enjoy being set on a pedestal. Judge Pidikiti-Smith is not like that. She is at her heart, a people’s person. She is a Virginia Law Foundation Fellow, and a former Alexandria Bar President. She is the perfect choice - out of some truly incredible candidates - and I offer Judge Pidikiti-Smith my highest recommendation.

Happy President’s Day to all, My name is Rex Flynn and I have the good pleasure of being personally acquainted with a number of the candidates you all will be called to vote upon. I bring you good tidings from Northern Virginia, and I would have loved to make these remarks in person, however today is my birthday and I have prearranged plans. I am blessed to have served the legal community from the local bar all the way up to the state bar level - and during that service, I’ve had the occasion to observe the following individuals, who I offer my highest endorsement: Adam Krischer - General District Court (17th Circuit) Adam is an incredible human being. He is defined by his empathy, composure, and humanity. He has served Arlington in perhaps every leadership capacity available. He is a past president of the Arlington County Bar Association, past chair of the Arlington County Bar Foundation, and he is regularly called upon to lead in local and bar events in Arlington. He is committed to making Arlington’s courthouse a better place to practice, and when I served in local bar leadership, he was a reliable voice of reason, and shoulder of support. He will certainly be missed on this side of the Bar, however, he is without question the perfect person you want serving on the bench. He has the temperament, discernment, and humanity to make Arlington a better courthouse. There isn’t anyone in Arlington who has demonstrated their commitment to Arlington service as much as Mr. Krischer. I offer Mr. Krischer my highest recommendation. LaVonda Graham-Williams - Circuit Court (3rd Circuit) I have had the good pleasure of knowing Ms. Graham-Williams for nearly the entirety of my professional practice. She has been a mentor and advisor to me since my days as a young attorney. When she retired from the private practice of law, I took over her caseload. While I thought that I knew her well at that time, it became evident once I handled her cases how much she poured of herself into her practice and work. Ms. Graham-Williams had such a personal relationship with each of her clients. Even for years after her retirement, I continue to bump into her (our) former clients who inquire as to how she’s doing, and insist that I tell them that they asked about her. I have worked with a great many attorneys in my time, and I don’t know that I’ve ever met one who cared as much personally about their clients as her. Caring about people, is, to me, part and parcel of what being a judge is about. I don’t reckon that being a judge is simply an X’s and O’s position. (Though certainly, X’s and O’s are critically important). Serving as a judge over others in my mind requires one to see the humanity of those in front of you. To identify the decision making from people who are nothing like you are. LaVonda has that in spades. I currently sit as President of the ODBA, and she is a member of our Board. The ODBA is the statewide Bar for African American Attorneys. Since serving on our Board, Ms. Graham Williams has gone above and beyond the call of duty. She has always answered the call when we needed Board members’ assistance. I offer Ms. Graham Williams my highest recommendation.

I live in Fairfax County and also have a law firm in Fairfax where I practice law. Fairfax County will be lucky to have Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith serve on our Fairfax County Circuit Court bench. She has a great temperament and demeanor that all who appear in front of her will see every time she takes the bench. She is intelligent, passionate, and driven to seek answers of new areas of law or issues that she may come across in cases she hears. She is passionate about giving all who appear in front of her the best chance to be heard fairly. In addition to having served as a General District Judge, she has led and been a part of various committees for domestic violence, access to justice, and landlord tenant law, just to name a few. Finally, she also has organized and spoke at various CLE's to help educate attorneys and serves as a professor for law students as well. She will give her all every day to get decisions right in cases she hears as well as continue to make Fairfax courts better with her service on the bench and various County or bar committees.

My name is Jim Grandfield. I am Public Defender for the City of Suffolk, a position I have been privileged to hold since 2008. I write to give my strongest endorsement of the judicial candidacy of Heather Emmert, whom I understand is being considered for a General District Court Judgeship in the 5th Judicial District. I have known Heather Emmert since approximately 2004 or 2005, when I was the founding deputy of the Chesapeake Public Defender Office and Heather was a prosecutor in the Chesapeake Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. I have tried hundreds of cases against Heather, everything from homicide juries in Circuit Court, to traffic misdemeanors in General District Court, and everything in between. In addition to the cases that were tried, no doubt there is a similarly high number of cases resolved via plea agreements. The qualities that I have seen in Heather as a prosecutor are the same qualities society seeks in its judges. First and foremost is integrity. The criminal bar is a small group, and one's reputation is pretty well known. Heather is an absolute straight shooter, and I am confident that all those who have worked with Heather share that opinion. Next on my personal list of desirable judicial qualities is humility. Lawyers talk about the phenomena known as "robitis". I would be stunned if Heather became so afflicted. The job of a prosecutor and a judge is to serve the public, and Heather gets that. Heather is the embodiment of "public servant". She is prepared, she works hard, and treats people with courtesy and respect. Sometimes I think the "non-lawyer public" , in other words normal humans, gets too much of their perception of lawyers from entertainment media, with lawyers constantly bickering and fighting. Heather is the embodiment of civility that the public deserves and our current judiciary rightfully preaches. I could go on and on but (obligatory Shakespeare reference warning), as Polonius said, "brevity is the soul of wit." I am intensely stingy with professional endorsements in general, so I will wrap up my comments by simply saying that Heather Emmert has earned my endorsement and I highly encourage you to select her as a judge. Respectfully, Jim Grandfield Public Defender Suffolk