Short answer
The Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area had 625 law offices with paid employees in 2023, employing 4,300 people at average annual pay of $91,454, according to Census County Business Patterns. Virginia Beach has the most (231), followed by Norfolk (122), Chesapeake (60) and Newport News (55). 384 offices have fewer than five employees and two have 100 or more. Check any lawyer's standing and public discipline in the Virginia State Bar's lawyer directory.
- Hampton Roads has 625 law offices and 4,300 law-office employees (Census, 2023), 0.38% of US law offices.
- Virginia Beach has 231 offices averaging 7.3 employees; Norfolk's 122 average 9.3, the largest in the region.
- 61% of offices have fewer than five employees, against 72% nationally; 43 have 20 to 99 and two have 100 or more.
- The Virginia State Bar is mandatory and listed 32,688 active members on 30 October 2026.
- Its online directory shows each lawyer's standing and whether they have public discipline.
On this page
This page is for anyone looking for a law firm in Virginia Beach or elsewhere in Hampton Roads: residents and businesses hiring a lawyer, people looking for legal jobs, and companies that sell to law firms. It covers how many firms there are and where, how to check a lawyer, and how to prospect the region's firms.
Hampton Roads law offices at a glance
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 counts offices of lawyers (NAICS 541110) in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metro Area (CBSA 47260). The Census Bureau treats the region as one metro area, and so should you: most firms here take cases across the cities.
| Measure (2023) | Virginia Beach metro area |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 625 |
| Employees (week of March 12) | 4,300 |
| Annual payroll | $393,251,000 |
| Average employees per establishment | 6.9 |
| Average annual pay | $91,454 |
| Share of US law offices | 0.38% of 165,491 |
City by city
Virginia's independent cities are counted as counties, so the Census figures come city by city.
| City or county | Offices | Employees | Employees per office |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Beach | 231 | 1,680 | 7.3 |
| Norfolk | 122 | 1,129 | 9.3 |
| Chesapeake | 60 | 292 | 4.9 |
| Newport News | 55 | 433 | 7.9 |
| Hampton | 35 | 180 | 5.1 |
| James City County | 32 | 119 | 3.7 |
| Portsmouth | 30 | 141 | 4.7 |
| Suffolk | 16 | 128 | 8.0 |
The eight account for 581 of the 625 offices; the other 44 are spread across the rest of the metro area, including its North Carolina counties. Virginia Beach has nearly twice as many offices as Norfolk, but Norfolk's are the largest on average, and Newport News is the hub on the Peninsula side. Chesapeake, Hampton and Portsmouth are markets of small practices, at about five employees per office.
How big the firms are
| Employees per office | Offices |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 384 |
| 5 to 9 | 134 |
| 10 to 19 | 62 |
| 20 to 49 | 35 |
| 50 to 99 | 8 |
| 100 to 249 | Not published |
| 250 or more | Not published |
Grouped, 580 offices have 1 to 19 employees, 43 have 20 to 99 and two have 100 or more. The Census Bureau doesn't publish the size classes those two fall in, to protect their confidentiality; the two is the total less the smaller classes. Hampton Roads has a thinner layer of one and two-person offices than the country (61% under five employees, against 72% of US law offices) and a thicker middle: 134 offices with 5 to 9 employees is 21% of the market.
The count's limits: it counts offices with paid employees, not firms, so a firm with offices in Virginia Beach and Norfolk counts twice. Lawyers practicing alone without staff aren't included; the Census Bureau's Nonemployer Statistics count 839 legal services businesses with no paid employees in the metro area in 2024. In-house and government lawyers are counted in their employers' industries, not here. None of the firms is an SEC-registered public company.
Checking a Virginia lawyer
The Virginia State Bar was created in 1938 as an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia, and membership is mandatory for lawyers practicing in the state. Its membership statistics, updated monthly, listed 32,688 active members when checked on 30 October 2026, along with 13,320 associate members, 6,832 retired members and 1,007 judicial members.
| Check | Where | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Is the lawyer licensed and in good standing? | VSB lawyer directory | Status "In Good Standing"; "Not in Good Standing" means an administrative or disciplinary suspension |
| Can they practice, or are they an associate member? | VSB lawyer directory, member type | Plenary members practice; associate members are non-practicing |
| Any public discipline? | VSB directory, then the legacy search | Discipline since 1 January 2022 shows on the lawyer's record; older actions are in a separate legacy search |
| Malpractice insurance | VSB malpractice insurance search | Whether the lawyer reports carrying coverage |
The directory searches by name, bar number and date of license, not by city, so start from a name you got from a referral, a court docket or the firm's site.
Prospecting Hampton Roads law firms
| Segment | Offices | How it buys |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 employees | 384 | The lawyer decides alone and wants a monthly price and fast setup |
| 5 to 19 employees | 196 | A managing partner decides, with an office manager running the trial |
| 20 to 99 employees | 43 | An administrator or COO shortlists; partners approve anything firm-wide |
| 100 or more | 2 | Committee buying with IT and security review |
Plan territory by city, not ZIP code. The Hampton Roads Alliance, the regional economic development organization, works across 15 cities and counties from Norfolk to New Kent County, and its locality list is a useful territory map. The region's corporate headquarters, which the Alliance names as Fortune 500 companies Dollar Tree, Ferguson and Huntington Ingalls, are where the larger firms' business clients sit. For buying roles in more detail, see selling to law firms.
Illustrative example. The company, prices and results are invented.
Lynnhaven Intake (lynnhaven.example) answers phones and books consultations for small practices. It targets offices of 5 to 19 employees in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Newport News. From the city table it estimates about 150 such offices (the four cities hold 75% of the region's offices, and 75% of 196 is 147). It checks each firm's site for practice areas that live on inbound calls (family, criminal, injury, estate planning) and keeps about 90. One contact each, the managing partner, at a 6% reply rate gives five or six conversations; two trials a month at $450 is $900 of new monthly revenue per cycle. The research per firm, practice area, hours and how intake works now, is what moves the reply rate. Bebop does that research for each account and drafts the first message.
Hi [first name], [your name] with [company]. I called [firm] at 6:40 last night and got voicemail, which is when a lot of family-law callers try. We answer for [number] Hampton Roads practices after hours and book consults straight into your calendar. I'll send a two-line email with the numbers. Again, [your name], [phone].
Useful links
- Virginia State Bar lawyer directory: standing, member type and public discipline.
- VSB membership statistics: members by class, updated monthly.
- Hampton Roads Alliance: regional data, localities and business intelligence.
- County Business Patterns: the federal count used above, by city and size.
For the code these offices use on federal and business forms, see the NAICS code for a law firm.
Next step: small firms buy differently from corporate clients; see how to sell to small businesses.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Nonemployer Statistics, 2024 (metro area file), US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Membership statistics, Virginia State Bar, accessed 30 October 2026
- About the Virginia State Bar, Virginia State Bar, accessed 30 October 2026
- Virginia lawyer directory, Virginia State Bar, accessed 30 October 2026
- Hampton Roads Alliance, Hampton Roads Alliance, accessed 30 October 2026
- Largest employers, Hampton Roads Alliance, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many law firms are there in Virginia Beach?
Census County Business Patterns counted 231 law offices with paid employees in the city of Virginia Beach in 2023, employing 1,680 people. Across the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area there were 625 offices and 4,300 employees. These are offices, not firms, and lawyers working alone without staff aren't counted, so the number of practicing lawyers is higher.
How do I check if a Virginia lawyer is in good standing?
Search the Virginia State Bar's online lawyer directory by name or bar number. It shows whether the lawyer is in good standing, the member type (plenary members practice; associate members don't) and whether there is public discipline. Discipline since 1 January 2022 appears on the lawyer's record, and older actions are in a separate legacy search on the same site.
Is Virginia State Bar membership mandatory?
Yes. The Virginia State Bar was created in 1938 as an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia, unifying the state's lawyers into a mandatory bar. Anyone practicing law in Virginia must be a member. Its monthly membership statistics listed 32,688 active members on 30 October 2026. Voluntary groups, such as local bar associations, are separate.
Are there big law firms in Hampton Roads?
Not many. Census data for 2023 shows only two law offices in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro area with 100 or more employees, and 43 with 20 to 99. Norfolk has the largest offices on average, at 9.3 employees. Most of the region's 625 law offices are small practices, and 384 have fewer than five employees.