Legal Elite

Michael Vanderpool grew up watching his father run the family business, peering over the table as a child to watch his father do paperwork.

The young Vanderpool had a fascination for business that would eventually lead him to enroll in Pennsylvania State University to pursue a degree in liberal arts and engineering. While attending the university, one of his professors, impressed with Vanderpool's extraordinary talents, suggested he go to law school.

After graduating from Penn State with honors and a Phi Beta Kappa designation, Vanderpool took the professor's advice and enrolled in Georgetown University Law School and graduated in 1975. During his time at Georgetown, he found time to serve as an editor of one of the law journals as well.

Throughout all his years of higher learning however, Vanderpool's fascination with the business world never faded. After a stint practicing civil litigation law, he decided it was time go back to his business roots. He began practicing primarily in the areas of business and corporate law, real estate and land use and zoning, and eventually was recognized as a “legal elite” business attorney for several years by a statewide business magazine.

“I was born to business,” says Vanderpool. “It’s not just the law, I get a great deal of joy from helping business people succeed.” And that he has done for more than 30 years.

Since its inception in 1986, Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, P.C. (VF&N) has grown to be the largest law firm in Prince William County and one of the largest in Virginia.

As a person that likes to “make things happen and be part of them,” Michael Vanderpool has a long list of successes to his credit, including the handlding the legal work for the recent sale of Colgan Air.

But there's more to Michael Vanderpool than just law. As CEO of VF&N, he takes the lead in placing emphasis on community service. “It's our way of saying ‘thank you' to the community – by giving back.” He says continuing to be ambassadors who work to improve the community is perhaps most important.

To that end, he and others in the firm take leadership positions in a variety of organizations. Vanderpool has served as president of the Prince William-Greater Manassas Chamber of Commerce, as a former member of the Board of Trustees of Prince William Health System and past president of the Manassas Rotary Club. He is also Chairman of the CEO Forum, holds an appointment to the Manassas Business Council and is on the Board of Trustees of George Mason University Foundation.

Though it may seem Vanderpool is focused entirely upon Prince William County, in reality, he's not. He has a more regional vision, one in which Prince William becomes the center of the “new Northern Virginia.”

He goes on to say that he believes the growth in our area in cultural arts, quality of life and exciting opportunities can only lead to Prince William County becoming the center of the exciting future of the entire region. “We have to recongize how good we can be,” he says. “And then strive to be more.”
“Being more” is exactly what Michael Vanderpool is all about. While he says the law office and its clients are never really out of his mind (he starts his day exercising and preparing himself mentally for the day ahead), he does pursue other interests. Reading, playing golf and enjoying arts are among his favorite pastimes, and he is toying with the idea of song writing ... “something I've just started thinking about,” he says.

Michael Vanderpool carries a card in his wallet his mother-in-law gave him years ago that reads, “To Be All You Can Be, You Must Dream of Being More.”

This has been Vanderpool's credo throughout his life. That, combined with his devotion to family and community and determination can leave no doubt that if he believes in a brilliant future for Prince William County, who are we to doubt?

Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian, P.C. is located at 9200 Church St., Suite 400, in Manassas. The firm consists of 30 employees and specializes in a variety of branches of the law. For more information, visit www.vfnlaw.com or call 703-369-4738.

--Susan L. Neer
Photography by Jeff Mankie