W. Benjamin Woody

Partner   |   DC Metro »

W. Benjamin Woody

Partner   |   DC Metro »

Ben’s practice focuses on the investigation and defense of catastrophic personal injury and property damage claims and insurance coverage disputes pending in state and federal courts in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He has tried over 100 cases to verdict and resolved hundreds more through motions practice, mediation, and arbitration. Ben recognizes that good people sometimes make mistakes that result in serious injury, and he takes pride in helping those unfamiliar with litigation navigate this terrain.

Ben is a graduate of Virginia Tech and is still proud of its beautiful, awful sports teams. He is grateful for his experiences in law school at Elon University School of Law in Greensboro and the Admiralty & Maritime Law LL.M. at Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans.

When he’s not representing his clients, Ben is likely either having the time of his life at breakfast or dinner with his young son and his bride, or he is busy fishing toy cars out from behind the couch. You can usually find him at 5:15 a.m. with a barbell in his hands if he isn’t on scene for an investigation.

  • Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys
    • Products Liability/Toxic Tort Section,
      • Vice-Chair (2020 – 2022)
      • Chair (2022 – 2023)
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Virginia State Bar
  • American Bar Association
    • Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice
      • Admiralty & Maritime Law Committee
  • Virginia Business Legal Elite (2019 – 2023)
    • Young Lawyer
  • Best Lawyers in America: Ones to Watch (2022 – 2024)
    • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
  • Virginia Super Lawyers – Rising Stars (2022 – 2023)
    • Civil Litigation: Defense
  • Internet of Things in Civil Litigation, Journal of Civil Litigation, 33 J. Civ. Litig. 15 (Spring 2021)
  • Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law, ABA TIPS Law Journal, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Spring 2020)
  • Sinking Uberrimae Fidei: How the Eighth Circuit’s Decision in St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co. v. Abhe & Svoboda Accidentally Sank the Doctrine before the Insurance Act of 2015 Could, TULANE MARITIME LAW JOURNAL, 40 Tul. Mar. L.J. 573 (Summer 2016)
  • Get Back to Where You Once Belonged: Decisions on Personal Jurisdiction Should Precede Maritime Choice of Law Disputes to Prevent Unnecessary Invocation of Forum Non Conveniens, UNIVERSITY OF SAN FRANCISCO MARITIME LAW JOURNAL, 29 U.S.F. Mar. L.J. 71 (2017)
  • There Be No Shelter Here: Why Misreading Sinochem International Shipping Co. v. Malaysian Shipping Co. Renders Decisional Sequencing Necessary, TULANE MARITIME LAW JOURNAL, 41 TUL. MAR. L.J. 317 (Winter 2017)
  • Contributing Author, Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law, 57 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 171 (Spring 2022)
  • Contributing Author, Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law, 56 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 185 (Spring 2021)
  • Contributing Author, Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law, 55 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 77 (Spring 2020)
  • Contributing Author, Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law, 54 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 269 (Spring 2019)
  • Contributing Author, Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law, 53 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 157 (Spring 2018)
  • Contributing Author, Recent Developments in Admiralty and Maritime Law, 52 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L.J. 175 (Spring 2017)
  • Bowman v. Top Gun of Virginia, 2021 WL 5827776 (D. Md. Dec. 8, 2021).
  • Successfully defended auto dealership in personal injury matter involving a slip and fall.
  • Successfully defended utility company in property damage action involving a windstorm.
  • Successfully defended bus company and bus driver in a traumatic brain injury suit.
  • Successfully defended bus charterer in personal injury suit.
  • Successfully defended large retail chain in slip-and-fall suit.
  • Successfully defended professional individual against defamation suit.
  • Successfully defended insurance companies in coverage disputes involving the scope of underinsured motorists coverage.
  • Successfully defended online retailer in class action product liability action in pleadings-stage dismissal.
  • Successfully defended nonprofit in business litigation action to verdict.
  • Successfully defended volunteer in tortious interference action to verdict.
  • Successfully defended automotive repair business in defective repair claim to verdict.
  • Successfully resisted appeal of personal injury action.
  • Successfully defended freight forwarder for claims of personal injury.

The cases referenced above do not represent the lawyer’s entire record.  Each case must be evaluated on its own facts.  The outcome of a particular case cannot be based on past results.

  • Defending Non-Auto Cases: Boats & Personal Watercraft, VADA Spring Seminar (May 7, 2021).
  • The Lauritzen-Rhoditis Lie: Saving Jones Act Claims from an Atrophied Choice of Law Analysis | ABA Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Committee’s Presentation of TULANE MARITIME LAW JOURNAL, Jones Walker, New Orleans, LA (October 27, 2016).
  • Insurance Act 2015 and Uberrimae Fidei: The Sinking of a Harsh, Anachronistic Doctrine | International Graduate Legal Research Conference, King’s College, London, England (April 4, 2016).
  • Sinking the Duty of Uberrimae Fidei before the Insurance Act of 2015 Could | ABA Maritime Law Committee’s Presentation of TULANE MARITIME LAW JOURNAL, Liskow & Lewis, New Orleans, LA (March 17, 2016).
  • Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, B. A. (2011)
  • Elon University School of Law, J.D. (2014)
  • Tulane University Law School, LL.M., Admiralty (2016)
  • North Carolina State Bar
  • Virginia State Bar
  • District of Columbia Bar
  • Maryland State Bar
  • United States District Court for the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia
  • United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina
  • United States District Court for the District of Maryland
  • United States District Court for the District of Columbia
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit