Ben Emerson offers steadfast guidance to local governments in need of legal advice and counsel on issues such as finance, land use, and commercial real estate.
Collaborating with other members of our Government group, he provides communities across Virginia with thorough and knowledgeable advice, counsel, and support. Ben served as a member of the firm’s three-person Board of Directors for 18 years.
As a consultative ally, Ben assists government clients with economic development projects and in financing equipment and infrastructure needs, solving cash-flow problems, and addressing zoning, subdivision, procurement, and FOIA issues. He works efficiently and responsibly to help his clients make legal decisions that fit within their comfort zone and come out ahead. With previous professional experience in the private sector, Ben applies his career insights to thoughtfully address his clients’ needs while navigating complex government regulatory procedures and laws. His general and specialized counsel and legal advice have helped clients in the areas of:
•Contracts
•Economic Development
•Procurement
•PPEA
•Tax-exempt Financing
•Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
•Zoning and Land Use
•Real Estate
When not working, Ben enjoys gardening, snow skiing, scuba diving, shooting sport clays, and choral singing. He messes around with classic British sports cars, especially Morgans, and spending time with his wife and two sons.
Recognition
• Legal Elite for Real Estate and Land Use Law
Virginia Business magazine
•Best Lawyers, Municipal Law and Real Estate Law
Publications
News About Benjamin W. Emerson
•21 Sands Anderson attorneys named to 2020 Best Lawyers List
•Sands Anderson Local Government Attorneys Awarded LGA Special Projects Award
•23 Sands Anderson attorneys named to 2019 Best Lawyers list
•Sands Anderson Elects 2018 Board of Directors
•Highlights from the 2017 VCU Real Estate Trends Conference in Richmond, Virginia
•20 Sands Anderson PC Attorneys Named to 2018 Best Lawyers List
•Sands Anderson Elects 2017 Board of Directors
•Thirty-One Sands Anderson Lawyers Named to 2016 Virginia Business Legal Elite
•Seventeen Sands Anderson Lawyers Included in 2017 Best Lawyers
•Thirty Sands Anderson Attorneys among 2015 Legal Elite
Favorite Books
•Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis
•David Copperfield
by Charles Dickens
Professional Highlights
•Serves as County Attorney for Caroline County
•Serves as Assistant County Attorney for Essex County
•Serves as County Attorney for Brunswick County
•Represented Brunswick Country in the acquisition and development of a $1.3 billion, 1,300 megawatt gas fired Dominion Power generating facility
•Represented Caroline County in numerous construction and economic development projects, including:
County administration buildings and courthouse construction
County visitors center
a McKesson Corporation distribution center
a Walmart project
a Harris Teeter/Kroger distribution center
acquisition of two small private water systems
expansion of an existing electrical equipment manufacturer
•Represented issuers and underwriters in private activity and other bond financings throughout Virginia including:
the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington
a motorcycle sidecar manufacturing facility in Nelson County
the Appalachian School of Law in Grundy
numerous local infrastructure projects
numerous energy performance contracts
Community Service
•Boy Scouts of America
Former Troop Leader
•Central Virginia Investment Council
Past President
•Children of the American Revolution
Former State President, Former National Vice-President, Former Adult Advisor
•City of Richmond's Alternative Dispute Resolution Center
Former Member of the Board of Directors
•Downtown Club of Richmond
Past President, Former Member of the Board of Directors
•Owner's Club at the Homestead
Vice President, Member of Board of Directors,
•Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Virginia
Former Governor
•Society of the Cincinnati
Member
•Sons of the Revolution
Member
•St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church
Vestry, Verger, Subdeacon, Lay Eucharistic Minister, Choir