Larry Bowen has lived in Northern Virginia for the majority of his life. He graduated from the University of Virginia and earned his law degree from the University of Richmond. He served on active duty for four years as a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corp and is now a retired U.S. Army Reserve JAG Officer.

Mr. Bowen has almost 30 years experience as a trial attorney primarily and now exclusively in the area of domestic relations law to include divorce, custody, visitation, child support, spousal support, equitable distribution, military pension cases and the division of government and myriad other retirement plans.

He is appointed by the Chief Judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court as a Neutral Case Evaluator and has been designated by the Court as a Judge Pro Tempore in certain divorce cases. Currently he is serving his third term as an arbitrator on the 19th Judicial Circuit Committee on the Resolution of Fee Disputes for the Virginia State Bar. He is an active member of the Fairfax Bar Association and has been designated as a Circuit Court conciliator. Mr. Bowen is also involved as a member of the Family Law Section of the Virginia State Bar and Fairfax Bar Association.

Mr. Bowen has been an active member of the Ex-Partners of Servicemen/Women for Equality (EX-POSE) for nearly 20 years. He has been a frequent speaker for EX-POSE and the Women’s Center on issues of military benefits, pension rights, the Survivor Benefit Plan, division of property, child custody, child support and the collection of child support. He has also lectured at Continuing Legal Education seminars sponsored by the Virginia State Bar and the Fairfax Bar Association.

Mr. Bowen is admitted to practice before:

• Supreme Court of the United States of America
• Supreme Court of Virginia
• Court of Appeals of Virginia
• Supreme Court of Texas
• United States Court of Military Review
• United States Court of Military Appeals
• United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

Valerie Hughes graduated from George Mason University in 1984 with a B.A. in History and English. For the next 16 years she worked as a paralegal in Fairfax County, primarily in the domestic relations field, with two years in defense contracting. In 2004 she graduated from George Mason University School of Law and passed the Virginia State Bar that same year. In law school, Ms. Hughes was awarded top paper for her domestic relations class, which was taught by the Chief Judge of the Fairfax County Circuit Court. It was the highest grade ever handed out in that class during Judge Dennis Smith’s tenure as a professor. She was also awarded top paper in Pre-Trial practice.

At graduation, Ms. Hughes won the Virginia State Bar Domestic Relations Award for excellence in family law as a law student. In 2004, she became an administrator of the George Mason University School of Law Domestic Relations Clinic, and was hired thereafter as an adjunct professor at the law school to co-administer the Clinic with Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Stanley P. Klein. She maintained that position from 2004 to 2006 and again in 2009. In June of 2004, she was a co-recipient of the Fairfax County Bar Association President’s Award, along with Judge Klein and Richard Byrd, for her work in the Domestic Relations Legal Clinic.

Ms. Hughes was the first student member of the Fairfax County Circuit Court Committee and the Domestic Relations Sub-committee. She recently retired as Chair of the Circuit Court Committee, after serving a two year term. Ms. Hughes was also one of the editors of the 2007 Circuit Court Manual. She was appointed by the Circuit Court in 2007 to be a Neutral Case Evaluator in Fairfax County and has had numerous appointments as a Commissioner of Sale by the Circuit Court. Ms. Hughes has also been selected to serve as an alternate on the Judicial Screening Committee for the upcoming vacancies on the Fairfax Circuit Court Bench. She is serving a three year term on the GMUSL Alumni Board of Governors.

Ms. Hughes has taught a CLE on the Brandenburg/Source of Funds Rule and has had numerous articles published in the Fairfax Bar Association Journal.

Ms. Hughes lives in Fairfax, Virginia, where she practices solely domestic relations and related appellate work with The Bowen Law Firm. Ms. Hughes practices in all the local jurisdictions and has appeared successfully at the Virginia Court of Appeals. She is the mother of two adult children.

Claire E. Shamblin is originally from Tuscaloosa, Alabama and has lived in Northern Virginia since 1991. She has been a principal at The Bowen Law Firm since 2006.

Ms. Shamblin graduated from W.T. Woodson High School after spending her junior year as a Page for the U.S. House of Representatives. After high school, she attended George Mason University where she received a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1997.

Ms. Shamblin graduated from George Mason University School of Law in May 2004 and was admitted to practice in October 2004. During law school, Ms. Shamblin was selected to act as a Writing Fellow, teaching first year law students. She was also a member of Moot Court and the American Inn of Court.

After law school, Ms. Shamblin clerked for the Honorable Robert W. Wooldridge, Jr. at the Fairfax County Circuit Court. Ms. Shamblin’s previous experience includes clerking at the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and working as a law clerk for the Alexandria Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

Ms. Shamblin is as an Adjunct Professor of Law at George Mason University, where she is the co-director of the George Mason University School of Law Domestic Relations Legal clinic, which assists indigent litigants in obtaining divorces. She also serves as a conciliator for the Fairfax County Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court and has been appointed as Special Commissioner of Sale by the Fairfax County Circuit Court on numerous occasions. Ms. Shamblin has previously been a member of the Fairfax County Circuit Court Committee for the Fairfax Bar where she assisted in drafting the Fairfax Circuit Court Procedures Manual.

Ms. Shamblin concentrates her practice in the areas of Family Law, Criminal/Traffic Defense and Personal Injury.