A painting of Virginia Supreme Court Justice D. Arthur Kelsey by artist Claiborne Gregory was unveiled during the Virginia Bar Association’s annual meeting in Williamsburg recently.

For more than 50 years, the VBA has commissioned portraits of new Supreme Court justices. They are given to the court and hang in the justices’ chambers until their retirement.

Kelsey’s term as a justice began in 2015. Prior to that, he served as a judge on the Court of Appeals of Virginia from 2002 and as a Fifth District Circuit judge in his native Suffolk from 2000 to 2002.

“This portrait is not just another painting of just another judge,” Kelsey told the audience. “It is a symbolic token of the public-private partnership between the courts and the practicing bar.”

Also during the meeting, John Charles Thomas, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia and now senior partner at Hunton & Williams LLP in Richmond, accepted the VBA’s highest honor.

The Gerald L. Baliles Distinguished Service Award is given in recognition and appreciation of exceptional service and contributions to the bar and public at large.

Attorney Lori D. Thompson of Roanoke received the Roger D. Groot Pro Bono Publico Award for outstanding pro bono and community service.

The Young Lawyers Division awarded Christopher M. Gill, a partner at Christian & Barton in Richmond, the division’s highest honor for persistent and dedicated efforts for a young lawyer, and it honored Laura Golden Liff, an associate attorney at Miles & Stockbridge in Tysons Corner, for superior service and enthusiasm during 2015.