- Renu Brennan, AttorneyBio
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Renu Brennan, Attorney Bio
Renu Brennan is the bar counsel for the Virginia State Bar (VSB). She served as deputy executive director of the VSB from 2016 to 2018, and as assistant bar counsel for the Bar from 2008 to 2016. Ms. Brennan previously served as secretary of Lawyers Helping Lawyers and was a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Client Protection. She was a faculty member for the Virginia State Bar Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Course from 2008 – 2011, and she previously served on the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Virginia. In 2021, Ms. Brennan was inducted as a fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation.
Ms. Brennan participated as an instructor in the Virginia Bar Association’s Rule of Law program. Prior to coming to the Bar, she was a partner with the firm of Vandeventer Black LLP, where she handled professional malpractice and commercial litigation. From 1998 to 2004, Ms. Brennan was with the firm of Wright, Robinson, Osthimer & Tatum in Richmond, Virginia. Ms. Brennan is licensed in Virginia, the District of Columbia, and California, where she practiced in Los Angeles. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia and a law degree from Boston University School of Law.
- Thomas M. DeGonia II, AttorneyBio
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Thomas M. DeGonia II, Attorney Bio
Thomas M. DeGonia II is bar counsel for the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland. The Commission was established in 1975 and oversees the conduct of both Maryland attorneys and nonmembers of the Maryland Bar who engage in the practice of law in the State. Bar Counsel is authorized to investigate professional misconduct or incapacity on the part of an attorney and, where indicated, file and prosecute petitions and statements of charges for disciplinary and remedial actions, as well as investigate and prosecute actions to enjoin the unauthorized practice of law. Bar Counsel also reviews notifications of overdrafts on attorney escrow accounts.
Prior to being selected to serve as bar counsel, Mr. DeGonia was a partner at Ethridge, Quinn, Kemp, Rowan & Hartinger, where he practiced primarily in the areas of criminal defense, civil litigation and family law and litigated in both state and federal courts. From 2007 – 2011, Mr. DeGonia was a senior associate at Venable LLP, where he managed teams of attorneys and paralegals, multijurisdictional investigations, and discovery involving misappropriation of trade information and deceptive practices and served as special prosecutor in Maryland and as a federal court appointed member of a civil rights monitoring team. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. DeGonia served as an assistant state’s attorney for Montgomery County for eight years, the last four years of which he led a felony prosecution team. He also served in the Office of Counsel to the Inspector General for the US Department of State where he advised on criminal investigations and foreign policy matters.
Mr. DeGonia served as president of the Bar Association of Montgomery County from 2020 – 2021 and president of the Family Justice Center Foundation from 2009 – 2021.
Mr. DeGonia is a magna cum laude graduate from the University of Missouri-Rolla where he also lettered in NCAA Division II football and studied abroad as a Jefferson-Smurfit Scholar. He graduated from the American University Washington College of Law where he served as student bar president and received the Mooers Trophy in Trial Practice and an award for his outstanding contributions to the law school.
- Julia L. Porter, AttorneyBio
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Julia L. Porter, Attorney Bio
Julia L. Porter is a deputy disciplinary counsel with the District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel, where she investigates and prosecutes lawyers for violations of the ethics rules. Julia graduated from George Washington University Law Center in 1983. After law school, Julia clerked for Judge Harold Greene of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and then worked at Caplin & Drysdale, a D.C. law firm, doing primarily civil litigation. Since 2005, Julia has shared responsibility supervising the other litigation lawyers in the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
Julia has taught professional responsibility as an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center for many years, taught numerous CLE courses for the D.C. Bar, and served on the faculty for the NOBC’s NITA training program.
- Hope C. Todd, AttorneyBio
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Hope C. Todd, Attorney Bio
Hope C. Todd oversees the legal ethics program at the District of Columbia Bar. Since 2006, Ms. Todd has provided legal ethics guidance through the Bar’s Ethics Helpline on the interpretation and application of the D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct. She regularly teaches ethics CLE classes and serves on panels for local and national audiences. Ms. Todd is a contributing author for the “Speaking of Ethics” and “Ask the Ethics Experts” features of the Washington Lawyer. She is staff counsel to the D.C. Bar Rules of Professional Conduct Review and Legal Ethics Committees.
Ms. Todd is a former member of the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2014 – 2017) and served as the committee’s liaison to the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services. She is a member of the National Organization of Bar Counsel, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, and the ABA Center on Professional Responsibility.
Before joining the D.C. Bar in 1998, Ms. Todd was in private practice in New York. She is a graduate of the University of Richmond School of Law and holds a BA in public policy from the College of William and Mary.
