Bryan is a Pender and Coward shareholder and focuses his practice in the areas of maritime and riparian law, eminent domain/right of way law, and worker’s compensation. A prolific author, Bryan has written articles on Virginia aquaculture and maritime law, including the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, the Virginia Primary Sand Dune and Beaches Act, and the Virginia Tidal Wetlands Act. He has been published in a number of professional journals on a variety of topics, ranging from Virginia real property law to the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Bryan is a member of the firm's waterfront law practice group, and writes blog articles regularly on the group's website devoted to waterfront (riparian) property rights law, maritime and admiralty law, and environmental law. Please click here to visit the waterfront law team's website.
Before joining the firm in 2018, Bryan retired from the U.S. Navy after 22 years of service as a pilot. He completed seven combat deployments and served as the Commanding Officer of a helicopter squadron. His last assignment was Lead Rotational Planner for the Joint Staff, where he provided strategic advice to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Secretary of Defense.
- American Bar Association
- James Kent Inn of Court
- Maritime Law Association of the United States
- Virginia Maritime Association
- Phi Alpha Delta
- Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch, Environmental Law, 2021-2025, Workers' Compensation Law - Employers, 2022-2025, Litigation - Environmental, 2024 and 2025
- Coastal Virginia's Top Lawyers, Land Use & Environment, 2022-2024
- Virginia Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2021-2024
- Virginia's Legal Elite, Young Lawyer, 2021, Environmental Law, 2022 and 2023
- Honorable Richard T. Kellam Professionalism Award
- 12 Ronald L. Fick Book Awards, Regent University School of Law
- Defense Meritorious Service Medal
- Air Medal
- Navy Helicopter Association East Coast Pilot of the Year, 2002
- Navy Commendation Medal, Awarded Five Times
- LEAD 757, Class of 2022
- VMA Maritime Leadership Certification Program, Class of 2023
- Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore
- Lynnhaven River Now, Waterway Cleanup Volunteer
- Elizabeth River Project, Waterway Cleanup Volunteer
- Restrictive Covenants Prohibiting Short-Term Rentals Upheld by Virginia Court of Appeals - March 2024
- Civil Liability for Property Damage, Death, or Injury Near Waterfront Property - July 2023
- Virginia Law and Regulation Regarding Dam Safety - June 2022
- How Do I Seize Assets after I Win a Civil Lawsuit? - May 2021
- How to Build a Pier in Virginia: Five Things Waterfront Property Owners Need to Know - April 2020
- How do I Recover Money Damages If I’ve Been Injured in An Act of International Terrorism? - September 2019
- What to Do if You Have Been Charged with a Tidal Wetlands Violation - April 2019
- Waterfront Property Owners: Riparian Rights vs. Oyster Aquaculture Companies - June 2018
- Legal Remedies Available to Persons Who Are Injured or Whose Property Is Damaged by 94,000 Gallons of Aviation Fuel Released at Naval Air Station Oceana on May 11, 2017 - May 2017
- Supreme Court of Virginia Shifts Jurisdiction of Some Actions of Unlawful Detainer - April 2017
- Environmental Law: The Supreme Court’s Hawkes Co. Decision May Help Save Your Project When Wetlands are Present - June 2016
- President Nixon as Midwife for the Birth of Enviromental Law - June 2016
- Environmental Law: An Oil Spill Could Cost Your Business - March 2016
- Oil Spills: The Clean Water Act to the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 - February 2016
- Environmental Law and the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act: Where Local Knowledge is a “Must” - October 2015
- How Citizens' Environmental Lawsuits Can Stop Pollution - September 2015
- As Coastal Migration Continues, Waterfront Property Owners Encounter Complicated and Costly Environmental Regulations - September 2015
- Riparian Rights When You Own Land in Contact with the Water: A Mix of Environmental, Admiralty and State Law - June 2013
- Vessel Operations & Environmental Law in the Chesapeake Bay: Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act - June 2012