Juli M. Porto
Juli M. Porto handles a wide range of appellate civil matters in the Court of Appeals of Virginia and Supreme Court of Virginia.
In addition to bringing and defending appeals, she consults with trial attorneys to develop legal theories of recovery and draft complaints, brief and argue dispositive and post-trial motions, and monitor trials in preparation for defending or prosecuting an appeal. Juli is a member of the Virginia Bar Association’s Appellate Section Council and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association’s Amicus Committee. She has published articles in The Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Journal, VTLAppeal, and Law360 and regularly teaches continuing legal education courses in appellate law to other attorneys across the state.
At the trial level, Juli devotes her practice to personal injury matters with complex liability issues. She has been honored for her legal accomplishments by several organizations and is regularly ranked as a top attorney by Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers, Arlington magazine, Virginia Business magazine, and the Washingtonian.
Practice Areas
Credentials
- George Mason University School of Law (J.D.)
- New York University (B.A, Honors Scholar)
- United States Military Academy (, National Defense Service Medal, Air Assault (Honorable Discharge))
- Virginia State Bar
- District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Supreme Court of the United States
Professional Honors & Activities
Professional Honors
- Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Leader of the Year 2024)
- Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Leaders in Law - Class of 2024)
- Virginia Lawyers Weekly (Go To Lawyer, Appellate Litigation)
- Washingtonian's Top Lawyers (Personal Injury)
- Super Lawyers (Appeals)
- Northern Virginia Magazine (Personal Injury)
- U.S. News - Best Lawyers in America, (Personal Injury)
- U.S. News - Best Lawyers in America, (Appellate Practice)
- The National Trial Lawyers "Top 40 Under 40" (Personal Injury)
- Virginia Business Magazine "Legal Elite" (Appeals)
- Arlington Magazine’s Top Attorneys (Personal Injury & Appeals)
- American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys “10 Best in Client Satisfaction" (Personal Injury)
Presentations and Lectures
- Case Law Update (VTLA Annual Convention 2024)
- Faculty, Appellate Practice: Building and Perfecting Appellate Skills (Virginia CLE 2024)
- Case Law Update (VTLA Annual Convention 2023)
- 5 Things Every Trial Attorney Should Know About Appeals (Fairfax Bar Association 2023)
- Appellate Bonds (VBA Appellate Summit 2023)
- What To Do When Things Go Wrong on Appeal (Fairfax Bar Association 2022)
- Faculty, Appellate Advocacy Academy (Virginia CLE 2022)
- Convention Committee, VTLA Annual Convention (VTLA Annual Convention 2022)
- Ethics in Appellate Practice (VBA 5th Appellate Summit 2021)
- Chair, VTLA Annual Tort Law Seminar (VTLA Tort Law Seminar 2021)
- Appellate Analysis: The Law of Duty (VTLA Annual Convention 2021)
- Obtaining Neuropsychological Raw Data (VTLA Traumatic Brain Injury Retreat 2021)
- Ridehail Seminar (VTLA Annual Convention 2020)
- Technology & Advocacy (VTLA Advocacy Summit 2019)
- Litigating the Pressure Injury Case (VTLA Nursing Home Litigation Retreat 2019)
- Proving Damages (National Business Institute 2016)
- Getting the Most Out of Medical Experts and Records (National Business Institute 2016)
- Microsoft PowerPoint for Courtroom and Client Presentations (National Business Institute 2015)
- The Many Uses of Microsoft Excel in Legal Practice (National Business Institute 2015)
Professional Memberships
- Virginia Law Foundation, Committee on Continuing Legal Education
- Ridehail Crime Victim Litigation Group, National Chair
- Virginia Bar Association, Appellate Section Council
- Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Amicus Committee and Judicial Relations Committee
- American Association of Justice
- Fairfax County Bar Association
- Prince William County Bar Association
Published Articles
- Quoted, Virginia appeals court rules judge wrongly dismissed asset forfeiture challenge, Virginia Mercury (July 25, 2024).
- Court Clerk Error Is No Excuse For A Missed Deadline, Law360 (April 29, 2024).
- Quoted, ‘We need the cases’: Virginia’s high court issuing fewer opinions, Virginia Lawyers Weekly (September 25, 2023).
- Quoted, How Va. Appellate Overhaul is Shaking Up the Old Dominion, Law360 (February 8, 2023). sub. req.
- Co-author, Essential Strategies for Representing Brain Injury Plaintiffs, Law360 (February 25, 2021). sub. req.
- Quoted, Uber's Challenge to Balance Driver Safety With Customer Privacy, New York Times (March 10, 2020), available at: tinyurl.com/PortoNYT.
- Is There a New Sheriff in Town Named "A.H. Tingler?", VTLAppeal, Vol. 3, No. 2, at 6 (2020).
- Be Careful What You Ask For: Cashion v. Smith May Not Keep You From Getting It, VTLAppeal, Vol. 3, No. 1, at 10 (2020).
- Co-author, Itemizing Intangible Damages in Closing Argument, The Journal of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Vol. 23, No. 3, at 8 (2012).
Community Service
- Service2School: Helping Veterans Apply to School, 2011 – present
Representative Cases
Appellate
- Chung v. Law Firm of Urban & Falk, PLLC, 2024 WL 4594323, Record No. 1665-23-4 (Virginia Court of Appeals 2024)
- Foster v. Foster, 2022 WL 2202988, Record No. 1141-21-2 (Virginia Court of Appeals 2022)
- Elliott v. Elliott, 2022 WL 598336, Record No. 0754-21-4 (Virginia Court of Appeals 2022)
- VTLA Amicus, Doe v. Baker, 299 Va. 628, 857 S.E.2d 573 (Virginia Supreme Court 2021)
- Jung v. Park, 2021 WL 1235422, Record No. 191495 (Virginia Supreme Court 2021)
- Hampton v. Meyer, 299 Va. 121, 847 S.E.2d 287 (Virginia Supreme Court 2020)
- Wilson v. Lee, 2018 WL 633522, Record No. 170347 (Virginia Supreme Court 2018)
- Toraish v. Lee, 293 Va. 262, 797 S.E.2d 760 (Virginia Supreme Court 2017)
- Wakole v. Barber, 283 Va. 488, 722 S.E.2d 238 (Virginia Supreme Court 2012)
Personal Injury
- Obtained a $9,000,000 settlement for the families of three students who tragically lost their lives and two survivors of the November 2022 University of Virginia shooting, working alongside co-counsel to achieve justice and advocate for reforms to improve campus safety and prevent future gun violence.
- Secured a $5,075,000 settlement for a client who suffered paraplegia after a rear-end collision caused their truck’s seatback to collapse, propelling their head into the rear compartment.
- Secured a $3,000,000 settlement for an engineer who sustained multiple fractures and underwent several surgeries following a head-on collision.
- Achieved a $2,325,000 settlement for a woman who suffered permanent leg injuries and life-altering consequences in a broadside collision, highlighting the importance of thorough case preparation, including a "day in the life" video and a life care plan.
- Secured a $3,250,000 settlement for the estate of a 16-year-old boy who tragically lost his life in a construction trench collapse, holding the construction company, its manager, and the property owner accountable for negligence and unsafe conditions.
- Secured a $2,850,000 settlement for a young woman who suffered burns to her face, neck, and torso from a defective pressure cooker and her husband’s loss of consortium claim, demonstrating that a manufacturing defect in the locking mechanism caused the explosion despite the defendants’ claims of user error.
- Achieved a $1,100,000 settlement for a lifelong athlete and father who suffered permanent knee injuries requiring multiple surgeries after a collision with a tractor-trailer on Interstate 66; successfully demonstrated the connection between his injuries and the initial crash despite defense challenges.
- Secured a $1,100,00 settlement for an 8-year-old child permanently injured after being struck by a package delivery driver who veered to the wrong side of the street, causing significant damage to the child's knee and long-term physical and emotional challenges.
- Secured a $1,475,000 settlement for a client with rheumatoid arthritis who fractured his elbow after tripping over a displaced cement slab in an outdoor retail courtyard, a condition found to violate the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code.