David Lord is the Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Alexandria, Virginia; an adjunct professor in Criminal Procedure at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law; and a published author. He has been employed as a prosecutor for over 17 years and has broad litigation experience, having tried 58 cases to trial before a jury and many hundreds more as bench trials. In addition to his work as a trial attorney, David has developed an expertise in prosecutorial ethics and David teaches on that topic at multiple conferences each year. He is on the permanent faculty of Trauma to Trial and Prosecutor’s Bootcamp, two statewide training conferences for Virginia prosecutors. David also provides individual workshops on legal ethics and professionalism. David has previously taught on white collar crimes, mental health law, proactive prosecution, and diversity issues. David also spends time researching and writing on legal ethics and his article, Breaking the Faustian Bargain: Using Ethical Norms to Level the Playing Field in Criminal Plea Bargaining appeared in Vol. XXXV of the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics. His article Give em’ the Ol’ Razzle Dazzle: The Ethics of Trial Advocacy and the Case of Kyle Rittenhouse will appear in Vol. 27, Issue 2 of the Suffolk Journal of Trial and Appellate Advocacy . As a prosecutor, David supervises multiple other attorneys and works with the Alexandria Treatment Court, a program that seeks to help divert from conviction and incarceration individuals with substance use disorder that engage in nonviolent felony offenses. David’s prior dockets have included the prosecution of adult sex crimes, homicides, robberies, fraud/embezzlement offenses, asset forfeiture, juvenile delinquency, gang crimes and traffic cases. David is a former President of the Alexandria Bar Association. David is a recipient of the 2017 Warren B. Von Schuch Distinguished Assistant Award, the 2014, 2015, and 2020 S. Randolph Sengel Award for Prosecutorial Excellence, the 2017 Alexandria Chamber of Commerce 40 Under 40 Award, and the 2019 Michael R. Doucette Lecturer of Merit Award.
Professional Experience
- Adjunct Professor, Criminal Procedure, George Mason University, Antonin Scalia School of Law, 2022
- Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Alexandria, 2020-Present
- Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Alexandria, 2014-2020
- Adjunct Professor, Appellate Writing, George Mason University, Antonin Scalia School of Law, 2006 to 2014
- Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney, City of Alexandria 2006-2014
Education
- Master of Theological Studies (M.T.S.), Wesley Theological Seminary, 2019
- Juris Doctor (J.D.), George Mason University, Antonin Scalia School of Law, 2005
- Bachelor of Artis (B.A.), Political Science, Colorado State University, 1999