Hon. David B. Albo
Dave Albo is a Government Relations attorney and a Virginia state lobbyist. Dave helps businesses, from small to Fortune 500, trade associations, and individuals who need to amend, pass, eliminate or defeat legislation and regulations; access government services; defeat adverse government actions; and acquire government contracts from the State or local governments. He also counsels clients on politics and elections.
Dave brings to his clients deep experience with the legislative process and access to elected and appointed officials in state and local government legislative and executive branches. As an elected member of the Virginia House of Delegates for 24 years, Dave sponsored over 75 original bills that were passed. Dave was Chairman of the House Courts of Justice (Judiciary) Committee. He played a role in passing or defeating tens of thousands of bills. During his over two decades of service, he had daily interaction with the state executive branch and local government agencies. Most recently, he was appointed to serve on Gov. Youngkin’s Transition, on the Transportation Landing Team.
As a delegate, Dave developed a reputation for solving problems while working well with both political parties. With strong relationships on both sides of the aisle, he helps clients identify the right legislators to target for legislation sponsorship. He leverages his relationships to help build a coalition in support of his clients’ interests. Dave can assist clients in accessing an executive branch or local government agency, acquiring a government service, or selling a product/service to the government.
In addition to his legislative work, Dave represents wholesalers, wineries, breweries, distillers, on-line marketers and restaurants before the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority (Virginia ABC). While serving in the Virginia House, Dave was on the Alcohol Tobacco and Gaming sub-committee, where he had a role in writing changes in the law for 24 years. Dave brings to his ABC clients am extensive understanding and knowledge of ABC law and how the ABC works. He has tried numerous cases before the ABC at the hearing officer level and before the full board.
Dave also oversees the firm’s Gaming Industry Group. Dave brings his understanding of gaming/gambling laws from his experience serving on the Alcohol Tobacco and Gaming sub-committee that handled all of Virginia’s gaming (gambling) laws. Dave co-authored the Virginia Fantasy Gaming Act, making Fantasy Sports on-line gaming legal in Virginia. Now that casinos and on-line sports betting is legal in Virginia, Dave represents casinos and on-line sports betting companies before Virginia’s regulatory bodies.
Dave has been named among Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite” in Government Relations/Lobbying (2018-present). He also has been honored as a “Top Lawyer” by the Washingtonian magazine seven times and as a “Best Lawyer” by Northern Virginia magazine five times. In 2023, Dave was named to the Washingtonian’s “Top Lawyer Hall of Fame.” In 2010, he was honored as one of Virginia’s “Leaders in the Law” by Virginia Lawyers Weekly.
Dave serves in the Executive Circle of the Northern Virginia Technology Council and is a board member of the Northern Virginia Regional Elected Leaders Initiative.
He earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Richmond and his Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Virginia.
- University of Richmond (J.D.)
- University of Virginia (B.A.)
Professional Affiliations
- Northern Virginia Technology Council – Executive Circle
Community Involvements
- EduTutor – Board Member
- Northern Virginia Regional Elected Leaders Initiative – Board Member
- West Springfield Civic Association – Past President
- Guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children (1988-1993)
Bar Admissions
- Virginia State Bar
Court Admissions
- All Virginia State and Federal Courts
Named to Virginia Lawyers Weekly's 2010 Class of "Leaders in the Law"
The Washingtonian - "Top Lawyer" (2018)
Northern Virginia Magazine - "Best Lawyer" (2020)
Virginia Business - "Legal Elite" (2018-present)
The Best Lawyers in America® - Administrative / Regulatory Law, Criminal Defense: General Practice, Criminal Defense: White-Collar (2024-present)
Best Lawyers® – Tysons "Lawyer of the Year” for Administrative / Regulatory Law (2025)
Experience
SELECT LOBBYING ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Helped to defeat proposed increases in taxation. And in some situations, where the tax increase was inevitable, helped to cut the tax rate to something more reasonable.
- Helped to defeat proposed regulation of an industry. And, in other situations, helped to shape proposed regulations making them palatable to a client.
- Helped to amend legislation so that a client was not excluded from bidding on a project.
- Helped to stop the elimination of an industry exemption from state minimum wage requirements.
- Helped to reduce a statute of limitation to give some finality to the amount of time in which a business could be sued.
- Helped to refer bills to a study so that the details adverse to a client’s interest could be investigated and addressed.
- Worked with local governments and businesses to devise a compromise on land use zoning.
- Helped to initiate budget amendments to include funding for a client’s service/product.
- Initiated and organized a presentation to the Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission enabling client to highlight the value its services were providing to the Commonwealth.
- Organized a presentation by a client to a local government showing the value of the client’s proposed information technology service.
- Arranged countless meetings for clients to meet elected leaders and government officials.
LEGISLATIVE EXPERIENCE
During his 24 years in the Virginia House of Delegates, Dave served on the:
- Courts of Justice Committee, Member and Chairman. Dave was Chair of this committee for a record-setting 12 years, thus becoming the longest-serving Chairman in the nearly 300-year history of this Committee. This Committee handles more legislation than any other committee and writes all Virginia civil and criminal court laws.
- Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission (JLARC). JLARC is the House/Senate joint commission that oversees all state government operations. This experience gave Dave knowledge of how the entire Commonwealth of Virginia government works. Thus, Dave can help his clients negotiate executive branch challenges. In addition, this commission is tasked with oversight of the state’s Information Technology Authority (“VITA”), thus giving Dave in depth knowledge of Virginia’s IT systems.
- General Laws Committee. This committee oversees Real Estate, Alcohol and Tobacco regulation, Gaming/Gambling, Professional Licensing, and Government Procurement. Dave served on the Alcohol, Tobacco and Gambling Sub-committee for his entire career. Thus, he had a role in writing every alcohol, tobacco and gambling law that was passed for 24 years.
- Conservation and Natural Resources Committee / Environmental Law Sub-committee, Chairman. This is a sub-committee of the Conservation and Natural Resources Committee and deals with Air, Water & Solid Waste regulation.
- Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. This commission oversees Metro, VRE and other mass transit.
SELECT LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Dave Albo’s legislative accomplishments include:
- Co-Author of the 2013 Transportation Act, which created a regional transportation funding system delivering hundreds of millions of dollars of transportation revenue to projects in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. In addition, it set up oversight to ensure that the money was spent on transportation, and a measurement system to ensure that the projects were selected based on congestion reduction rather than political considerations. Delegate Albo’s regional funding concept was expanded to other regions of the Commonwealth in the 2020 General Assembly Session.
- Sponsor of the bill that restructured Virginia ABC;
- Sponsor of bills that modernizing Virginia’s computer and internet laws;
- Co-creating the financing mechanism that ultimately led to the public-private partnership section of the Virginia Code.
- Supported numerous other bills on Immigration, Medicaid Fraud, Transportation, Criminal Law, Civil Law Procedure, Animal Protection, Adoption, Land Preservation, Clustering Single Family Dwellings and Computer Crimes.
