Virginia politics is familiar territory for Washington, D.C.-based Venable and Richmond's McGuireWoods. Still, they recently found themselves in a rare situation for Big Law, with current lawyers at both firms earning party nominations when the state held its primary elections on June 13.

Justin Fairfax, a counsel at Venable, and John Adams, the partner who heads McGuireWoods' white-collar department, are running for Virginia lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively. Fairfax is a Democrat who bested two other candidates in the primary; the current lieutenant governor, Democrat Ralph Northam, is up for governor. Adams is a Republican who was uncontested in his nomination.

While it's fairly clear that Adams would leave his firm if he wins the attorney general position, a full-time job, it's not yet set whether Fairfax could maintain ties to his firm if he becomes the state's part-time lieutenant governor. (The primary job of the lieutenant governor is to cast tie-breaking votes in the Virginia Senate and succeed the governor if that office becomes vacant. Its secondary role is a less official one: grooming a candidate for the governorship or other top political roles.)