Still in his 40s, yet experienced and full of insights on the law, marriage and divorce, Jason A. Weis is regarded as one of Northern Virginia’s leading young divorce lawyers. He’s a partner at Curran Moher Weis, the Fairfax-­based matrimonial boutique that split off from a major regional firm a decade ago. Today the firm - particularly the high-stakes litigation practice that is the firm’s bread and butter - has become one of the best known and effective practices in the D.C. metropolitan area. While his partners Gerald Curran and Grant Moher have gotten more attention - both recognized by important public references, including Ten Leaders - Weis in many respects has been the firm’s catalyst and public voice. Today his often-sharp opinions appear on his blog: www.familylawva.com. His posts - and overall approach to his practice - reflect a wisdom, confidence and candor rare in young lawyers today. (“Don’t get divorced because you want better sex,” he writes. “That’ll wear off.”) He’s naturally business savvy, having built and sold a title business during the real estate boom - all while practicing as a busy litigator.

Weis too has deep roots to the Washington area: his grandfather was an early owner of an independent gas station in the District, and both his parents enjoyed long careers with the Federal Government. He grew up in Fairfax County and attended South Lakes High School in Reston, a “nerdy and quiet kid” who was “pretty consumed with being a good student” and already known as an excellent debater (“wherever there was a debate team, I was its captain.”) Weis says his father, who also worked as a radio announcer, “really drilled into me the value of public speaking.”

He went on to all-male Hampden-­Sydney College, where the graduating class (about 250 students) was an eighth the size of his high school’s graduating class; “Part of it was I wanted to be a big fish, but (the school) was really what I needed at that time. Small classes meant more accountability. I loved to read, take apart dense narratives and challenge my professors.” Weis graduated with honors in both Philosophy and Religion, and then went on to become a Trial Clerk for the U.S. Tax Court in D.C. The court promptly jetted him around to various federal courts across the country. “I’m pretty close to being able to say that I’ve been inside a courtroom in every state. I’ve seen a lot of really good lawyers. I also worked with a half dozen different judges, which was eye-opening.” After the U.S. Tax Court, Weis went on to George Mason Law School in Arlington, one of the more underrated law schools in the nation. (“The school is perfectly placed to take advantage of Northern Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. and I loved that many of my instructors were sitting judges, who later recognized me in court.”) Passing the Virginia bar he joined a succession of family-law practices in Northern Virginia, doing stints with some of the best known in the field. One of his biggest influences, he says, was Tysons Corner litigator Brian West, a creative lawyer “driven by competition” and long regarded as something of a cowboy in divorce circles. (“Brian is ‘sharp’ in the very best sense of that word.”) Weis spent several years with West’s practice before joining the Fairfax firm of ShounBach in 2009, where he met Curran and Moher. Two years later they launched their own practice.

There’s another aspect to Weis’s life story that’s perhaps handed him more insight: his own parents divorced when he was 16. Notwithstanding the divorce, clients will find that Weis - focused, straightforward, still with youthful brash - hardly comes across as a victim of a broken home. The experience “showed me that while divorce is necessary, emotional bonds that are both real and important remain afterwards.” Today he, his wife and two young children live in Round Hill, Va., in Loudoun County.