Steven P. Gould
F O U N D E R & P R I N C I P A L
Steven focuses his practice on employment law, estate planning, general corporate matters, and assisting clients who interact with or are regulated by state and local governments in Virginia. Prior to forming SoVa Legal, he was a co-founder of Byrnes Gould Law and also practiced with Williams Mullen in Richmond and Clement Wheatley in Danville.
Steven is a past Chair of the Virginia Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division (YLD) and a former member of the VBA’s Board of Governors and the Board of Directors of the Virginia Law Foundation. He is serving his second term on the Pro Bono Committee of the Supreme Court of Virginia’s Access to Justice Commission. He is a former member and vice chairman of the Danville School Board and is currently a member of the Longwood University Board of Visitors. He was the 2018 recipient of the Sandra P. Thompson Award for outstanding work and long-term service to the YLD and a 2015 recipient of the Danville-Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals PACE (Professional and Community Engagement) Award.
Prior to attending law school, Steven served for five years as a policy adviser in the Office of the Governor in Richmond, where he focused his work on economic and workforce development, agriculture, housing, and executive clemency.
He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned his juris doctor from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as a Dillard Fellow for the School’s Legal Research and Writing Program.
He is admitted to practice in the state and federal courts of Virginia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Since 2014, he has been recognized consistently as a Rising Star by Virginia Super Lawyers magazine and as Legal Elite by Virginia Business Magazine.
Melanie L. Kendrick
A S S O C I A T E A T T O R N E Y
Melanie joined the SoVa Legal team in April 2023 as an Associate focused on general business law and estate planning.
A native of Patrick County, Virginia, Melanie graduated from Patrick County High School and Patrick & Henry Community College with an associate's degree from the dual enrollment program. Melanie continued her education at Virginia Tech where she double majored in criminology and sociology and minored in peace studies and violence prevention. In 2019, she graduated from Virginia Tech, magna cum laude, with her bachelor’s degree in sociology. Following her undergraduate studies, Melanie attended Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, North Carolina. During her time in law school, Melanie interned with Schneider & Williams, P.C. in Stuart, Virginia, and the Public Defender’s Office in Martinsville, Virginia. Melanie obtained her juris doctor from Elon University School of Law in December 2021. Following passage of the Virginia bar exam in April 2022, Melanie began her career as an Associate Attorney at Schneider & Williams, P.C., where she primarily practiced family law and civil litigation.
She is a member of the Virginia State Bar, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, and serves on the Board of Governors for the Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Conference.
In her space time, Melanie enjoys reading, playing the piano, hiking, kayaking, crafting, and playing with her dog and cat.