Edward A. Ames

Background

Edward A. Ames was born on February 26, 1939, in Accomac, Virginia, a town on the Eastern Shore, the peninsula between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Accomac is the seat of Accomack County, one of the original shires of colonial Virginia, established in 1634. The town and county names are spelled differently because a 1940 act of the state legislature set the distinction.

Onancock, where he later built his legal career, lies about four miles inland from the Chesapeake Bay on Onancock Creek. The town was founded in 1680 and served as Accomack's first county seat. For generations it operated as a port and commercial center for the Eastern Shore, with trade ties that extended to Baltimore after steamboat service began in the 1840s.

Education

Edward A. Ames received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington and Lee University in 1961 and a Juris Doctor from the university's law school in 1964. Founded in 1749 as Augusta Academy, the institution was later renamed Liberty Hall, Washington Academy, and Washington College before taking its present name in 1871. It is located in Lexington, Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley.

After Robert E. Lee became president in 1865, the college added a law school and a business school to its curriculum, linking professional training with the liberal arts. Ames completed his legal studies there, and he was admitted to practice in Virginia in 1964.

Career

Ames's documented professional career centers on Ames & Ames, a law firm in Onancock, Virginia, where he practices as a partner. The firm is based in the Ames Building in the town's center, and its work is described as general practice covering chancery, probate, real estate, corporate matters, and trials.

In Virginia, chancery matters, which concern equity disputes, are heard by circuit courts. Probate work involves the proof of wills and the administration of estates. Real estate and corporate practice address property transactions and business organizations, areas that serve the agricultural, maritime, and small-business economy of the Eastern Shore.

The firm's peer-review ratings and his designation as a member of the firm place him among practicing attorneys who handle a broad range of local legal needs rather than a single specialty.

Membership

Ames served as president of the Accomack County Bar Association from 1977 to 1979. County bar associations bring together attorneys practicing in a local jurisdiction to address professional concerns and matters affecting the local courts.

He also served on the council of the Virginia State Bar from 1992 to 1998. The Virginia State Bar is the state agency that regulates the licensing and professional conduct of attorneys in Virginia. He was additionally a member of the Virginia Bar Association, a voluntary statewide association of lawyers focused on professional standards and the practice of law.

• President

  Accomack County Bar Association , United States

  1977 - 1979

• Member of the Council

  Virginia State Bar , United States

  1992 - 1998

• Virginia Bar Association , United States

References

• Martindale-Hubbell profile of Edward A. Ames III Professional profile identifying Edward A. Ames III as a member of Ames & Ames in Onancock, Virginia, with his Washington and Lee University education, 1964 Virginia admission, and peer rating.
• Lawyers.com profile of Edward A. Ames III Professional profile of Edward A. Ames III covering his membership in Ames & Ames, his education, his Virginia admission, and his bar association memberships.