May 6, 2026
Mikaela Phillips Receives 2026 Young Lawyer of the Year Award
The Virginia State Bar Young Lawyers Section has named Mikaela Phillips, assistant solicitor general for the Virginia Office of the Attorney General, as the R. Edwin Burnette Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year. The award has been a harbinger of future success, with recipients going on to serve as VSB presidents, in the Office of the Attorney General, and as esteemed members of the bench and bar, and recognizes young lawyers who demonstrate dedicated service to the section, the legal profession, and the community.
As the assistant solicitor general, Phillips represents the interests of the Commonwealth in federal and state courts, including high-profile matters of national and statewide importance. She previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable now-Chief Justice Cleo E. Powell of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Honorable William T. Newman, Jr. of the Arlington County Circuit Court. During her brief period in private practice, she represented plaintiffs in employment discrimination matters.
Phillips has served as the chair of the Oliver Hill/Samual Tucker Pre-Law Institute since January 2025. She was the sole chair of the 2025 institute, in which she planned and executed a week-long pre-law summer camp for 35 high schoolers. Under her leadership, the Institute received a record number of applications (approximately 85-90).
Phillips tapped two co-chairs to help her with this program. She is currently in the planning stages of the 2026 Institute. Phillips noticed that a lot of the students at the Institute were from Northern Virginia, where many schools have mock trials, debate, model UN, and other legal-related extracurriculars. Since the purpose of the Institute is to provide exposure to students who do not necessarily have access to these resources or opportunities, Phillips made it a goal to further expand the Institute’s reach to recruit students from geographically diverse areas. To that end, Phillips and her co-chairs have made contact with nearly every public high school in the Commonwealth. She exceeded 2025’s record and received nearly 130 applications this year.
Phillips has volunteered with Rule of Law Day since 2024. She served as a co-chair for YLS on the Planning Committee. She helped draft the mock courtroom scenario for the program, which was focused on student speech on and off campus. In order to streamline volunteer sign-ups and ensure effective and timely communication, Phillips implemented a Google Form sign-up and a dedicated Gmail account. She had a record number of attorney and judge volunteers, and received positive feedback from volunteers on the Google Form and increased timely communication.
Phillips will receive her award at the VSB's Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.