Now more than 30 years handling virtually all areas of family law, David Masterman has long been one of the top divorce attorneys in Virginia. If man is a sum of his experiences - the son of an NBC journalist, growing up in Falls Church, Va., and Amarillo, Tx., a one-time college punk-rock lead vocalist - Masterman is a wonderfully original product. Further, peers and rivals alike say that Masterman, now in his 60s, has long possessed an exceptionally quick and creative mind; with it has built a reputation as an effective, accomplished divorce attorney.

In many respects the law came to him early. Friends and family members told him he’d make a great lawyer when he was a point-dissecting 4th grader; inevitably he was runner-up in the Texas Quad-A High School Debate Championships. At his first college, Texas Tech, faculty members reviewed his off-the-chart grades and encouraged him to seek a greater challenge. At Iowa’s Grinnell College, he continued to excel, graduating with high honors, and headed straight to law school. “I thought I’d be a prosecutor,” Masterman recalls, but instead was recruited by a Cleveland firm expecting to do estate and trust work. “I found myself becoming a tax lawyer, working in documents all day.” That, he says, wasn’t a direction he preferred.

Returning to Virginia, Masterman joined the Arlington firm of Joanne Alper, a renowned family law practitioner and later a Circuit Court Judge. It was Alper who immersed Masterman in divorce law. With the state’s new divorce statutes enacted in 1982, “there was no good case law. All of a sudden a young lawyer was on a level playing field. It was just the right time for me.” By 1991, Masterman had become the firm’s matrimonial practice. “It all just fell on me when Joanne became a judge.” By 1995 a well-established Masterman teamed up with Joe Condo, and their high-profile practice thrived for nearly eight years. Both chaired key posts in the state bar association’s family law section.

In 2003, Masterman launched his own firm, located now in spacious offices on Old Meadow Road near Tyson’s Corner. (Masterman Krogmann was founded in 2009.) If Masterman is known for a sub-specialty it is perhaps in custody cases. He has represented spouses, and prevailed, in disputes over lottery winnings. But generally he is well known for his animated, effective work in court and in mediations alike.

Away from the office he enjoys his three children and his cats, and is an avid fan of the NHL’s Washington Capitals. He lives in Annandale, VA.