About Vanessa Hicks

Vanessa E. Hicks is an Associate Attorney at Marks & Harrison, focusing on personal injury law in Richmond, Virginia. Her background includes extensive experience as both a criminal defense attorney and in personal injury law, with prior roles at law firms and public defender offices.

Hicks earned her Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee University School of Law, a Master of Divinity from the Samuel D. Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English from the College of William and Mary. She received AVVO's Client's Choice Award in 2021 and was named by The National Trial Lawyers as one of the year's top 100 trial attorneys in 2014. She is an active member of the Old Dominion Bar Association, serving as Secretary for the 2024-26 term.

Proven verdicts and settlements at Marks & Harrison

These results are credited to Marks & Harrison. A result appears under an attorney's own name only when a published source names them as counsel on the case.

$10 millionSettlementTop 20 in Virginia · #13

A tractor-trailer drifted into a retired 20-year veteran's lane on Interstate 95 North and killed him, and Marks & Harrison recovered $10 million for his family before any lawsuit was filed.

Interstate 95, Virginia · 2024Truck AccidentsRead the full story →
$10 millionVerdictTop 20 in Virginia · #14

A City of Richmond worker suffered permanent brain damage when a runaway Norfolk Southern boxcar with a missing brake rod drove a floodwall gate into him, and a Richmond jury returned a $10 million verdict.

Richmond Circuit Court, Virginia · 1996Workplace InjuryRead the full story →
$9 millionSettlementTop 20 in Virginia · #15

A heavy retail display toppled onto a 7-year-old, fracturing the child's skull and forcing emergency brain surgery, and Marks & Harrison resolved the premises liability case for $9 million.

Virginia (private mediation) · 2023Premises LiabilityRead the full story →
$6.5 millionSettlement

In February 2015 a Chesterfield County, Virginia police officer fired a Taser at Miles November, a 27-year-old man trapped in a wrecked car soaked in gasoline after a police chase. His clothing ignited and he suffered burns over most of his body, followed by months in the hospital and more than 30 surgeries. He sued the county and the officer in federal court in Richmond. The case settled in 2018 for $6.5 million, paid by the county's commercial insurer and its self-insurance fund.

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond · 2018Civil RightsRead the full story →
$5.24 millionSettlement

A police chase on wet Virginia roads ended in a head-on collision that killed a six-months-pregnant passenger's unborn son and left her with catastrophic injuries, and the case settled for $5.24 million.

Virginia · 2023Car AccidentsRead the full story →

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.

Practice areas

Education

College of William and Mary
Undergraduate

Bar admissions & credentials

State Bar of Virginia
Old Dominion Bar Association

Awards & recognition

AVVO Client's Choice Award (2021)
National Trial Lawyers Top 100 (2014)

Other attorneys at Marks & Harrison

View firm →

Proven verdicts and settlements from other Richmond firms

Emroch & Kilduff
Emroch & Kilduff
$9 Million Settlement for Truck Driver Who Lost His Right Leg When a Wheelabrator Truck Ran a Stop Sign
Geoff McDonald & Associates, P.C.
Geoff McDonald & Associates, P.C.
$40.5 million · Banner Life and William Penn Policyholders: A $40.5 Million Class Settlement Over Premium Spikes
Allen Allen Allen & Allen
Allen Allen Allen & Allen
$25 Million Verdict Against Cardiologist Who Read Blocked Arteries as Normal

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique and depends on its own facts.