This year’s IRWA’s Annual Education Conference is set be the best one ever, and that’s saying something for a conference that has been running for 71 straight years!  The schedule of speakers will provide multiple days of high quality educational material across all aspects of the right of way profession.

We’re incredibly excited that this year’s Keynote Speaker will be world famous author and media strategist Ryan Holiday. He has written numerous books, “including The Obstacle Is the Way, Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, Conspiracy and Stillness is the Key which have sold more than 2 million copies in thirty languages and have a following among NFL coaches, world-class athletes, TV personalities, political leaders, and others around the world.” He writes about “life, dealing with assholes, how to be self-critical and self-aware, humility, philosophy, reading, learning, research and strategy.”  He has also written for the New York Times, USA Today, New York Observer, Thought Catalog, Entrepreneur,  Fast Company, The Huffington Post, Medium, Boing Boing, Forbes, Columbia Journalism Review and many other outlets. [Editor’s Note: Out of all Ryan’s books, the Obstacle is the Way is my personal favorite;  I’ve bought multiple copies over the years as gifts, and I keep a copy on my credenza.]

Among the huge number of speakers at this conference, I will be presenting alongside the brilliant Karla Carter, Esq. on “Heirs’ Property, Partition Suits and Right of Way” from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM on Monday, June 2, 2025.  Karla Carter, Esq. is the founder of the Legal Education and Resource Network of Virginia, also known as L.E.A.R.N. VA. Passionate about property rights and environmental justice, Karla is also a frequent speaker and writer on issues involving heirs’ property and is devoted to educating the community and legal professionals about heirs’ property, its financial impacts, and land stabilization strategies. Karla spent 23 years in local government as in-house counsel, most recently serving as the Deputy City Attorney for the City of Suffolk before joining Dominion Energy in 2022 as Senior Counsel where she specializes in real estate. Karla earned her undergraduate degree from the College of William & Mary and her law degree from the University of Richmond.

Our law partner Dave Arnold, Esq., will also be speaking as part of the Great Eminent Domain Debate from 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM also on Monday, June 2, 2025.
The conference this year is at the Virginia Beach Conference Center, and travel and hotel information is is available here. Need to convince your boss for you to be able to attend? The IRWA has alrady thought of that and put together a Convince Your Boss page here.

Ross Greene is a firm shareholder and chair of the firm’s Eminent Domain / Right of Way Practice Group. He focuses his practice in the areas of eminent domain, real estate, wills, trusts, estates, and business matters.