Saint Leonard, MD

James Tate

Jim has established himself as one of the premier attorneys in Northern Virginia, having over 40 years of experience practicing law. His practice focuses on white collar crime, civil litigation, and personal injury. Jim served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division. He has also served as an Assistant United States Attorney and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. In 2015 Jim co-wrote the book, I Am Charged With a Crime, which includes experiences from his legal career and life, and also offers advice for those facing a wide range of criminal charges. Jim has a peer review rating of “AV” from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating an attorney can obtain. He has also been awarded a 10 out of 10 rating by AVVO, reflecting his exceptional reputation and experience as a legal professional. In 2018, Jim was recognized by Attorney and Practice Magazine’s Top 10 Attorney List. Beyond the law, Jim actively volunteers of his time for his faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for which in 2007 he served full-time as the President of the Alabama Birmingham Mission for three years. He is married to Sharon Spieks of Avondale, Georgia, and they have two daughters and five grandchildren.

Paul Mickelsen

Paul has been practicing law for over 17 years. His areas of focus are in criminal and traffic defense and civil litigation (domestic relations, personal injury). In his criminal practice, he has experience handling serious felony charges (involving the potential of life imprisonment) and also has ample experience in traffic and criminal misdemeanors, having litigated over 2,500 cases. Paul is in court nearly every day on civil and criminal matters. Paul has also handled appeals before the Virginia Court of Appeals and Virginia Supreme Court. Paul has a peer review rating of “AV” from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating an attorney can obtain. He also has an superb AVVO rating of 10 out of 10, a rating that reflects his exceptional reputation and experience as an attorney. Moreover, Paul has also been selected to the Top 100 Trial Lawyers for Criminal Defense by The National Trial Lawyers and was also selected to 2020 Virginia Super Lawyers. Beyond the law, Paul enjoys performing in a local band and recording music. Paul and his wife Sarah live in northern Virginia with their five children.

Caitlin Higgins

Caitlin joined the firm in November 2017 after practicing law for several years in Northern Virginia. She focuses her practice on family law, personal injury, and civil litigation. Caitlin was selected by Super Lawyers Rising Stars for 2018-2022. She was also recognized as one of the “10 Best Family Law Attorneys in Virginia for Client Satisfaction” by the American Institute of Family Law Attorneys in 2016 and 2017. Caitlin zealously advocates for her clients to achieve the best possible outcome in each case. As a Fairfax County attorney, she provides her clients with knowledgeable and compassionate legal representation. Caitlin is an active member of the Northern Virginia legal community, dedicating time to her memberships with the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, Virginia Women Attorneys Association, and Fairfax Bar Association. Caitlin was born in Massachusetts but raised in California. She attended the University of California, Santa Barbara before moving east for law school at Penn State University, where she was recognized as a Pro Bono Advocate through the Muller Public Interest Program.

Douglas Bywater

Having more than 40 years of experience practicing law, Doug is a highly-respected attorney within the Northern Virginia legal community. He has focused his practice on civil litigation including personal injury, medical and legal malpractice, business litigation and domestic relations. He is also a successful appellate attorney, having received favorable opinions in both federal and state courts of appeals. He has a peer review rating of “AV” from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating an attorney can obtain. Beyond the law, Doug is active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has served a two-year mission for his church, in addition to being active with youth groups and coaching baseball and basketball. Doug has also devoted his time to instructing young men in the Boy Scout program. He married Virginia Lundgren in 1967 with whom he has four children and fourteen grandchildren.

Travis Tull

Travis has more than 18 years of experience practicing law. His primary area of focus is criminal defense. Travis routinely represents individuals charged with the most serious of felony offenses (i.e., rape, murder, burglary, distribution of narcotics). A top criminal defense lawyer of the region, Travis has also litigated cases dealing with most areas of civil litigation (real estate, business/contract disputes, construction, domestic relations). He has instructed other attorneys how to practice law, teaching Continuing Legal Education courses. Travis has a peer review rating of “AV” from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating an attorney can obtain. He also has an superb AVVO rating of 9.9 out of 10, a rating that reflects his exceptional reputation and experience as an attorney. Moreover, Travis has also been selected to the Top 100 Trial Lawyers for Criminal Defense by The National Trial Lawyers.

Kathryn Bigus

Kathryn (Kate) has been practicing law since 2003. She has focused her practice on domestic relations, estate planning and estate administration. The two most stressful events in a person’s life are divorce and death. Kate takes great pride in the fact that she can plan, guide and counsel her clients during such difficult times in their lives. In 2005, she completed training in collaborative law practice (also called Collaborative Divorce, Collaborative Law, or Collaborative Dispute Resolution), a process designed to counteract some of the destructive side effects of the adversary legal system, and resolve divorces and other family law cases in the interest of the entire family. For more information on collaborative law, please visit: www.co-divorce.com and www.collaborativepractice.com . Kathryn D. Bigus (Kate) was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania. Soon thereafter her family moved to Northern Virginia, where she grew up and continues to consider home. She now lives in Fairfax County with her husband and three children.

Robert Fredericks

With more than 40 years of legal experience, Robert (Bob) has focused his efforts on all aspects of family law, transactional real estate, civil litigation involving real estate and probate matters, estate planning and estate administration. He has handled mediation, arbitration and litigation of complex and high conflict custody and equitable distribution cases in all of the Northern Virginia courts. Bob’s real estate experience has included thousands of residential settlements and preparation of all relevant real estate documentation for both commercial and residential transactions including contracts of sale, deeds, notes, security instruments, easements, leases and 1031 tax deferred exchange instruments. For over 25 years Bob handled settlement and acted as a settlement agent. However, for the past 15 years or so, Bob has focused on the representation of buyers and sellers and the creation and review of real estate documentation. Since 2004 Bob has prepared the necessary documentation for thousands of settlements handled by The Settlement Group, Inc. Bob has also taught classes on a variety of topics for Virginia real estate agents over the past 15 years. As a service to the local community of lawyers, Bob has served as a motions conciliator in the Fairfax Circuit Court; served on the judicial screening committee for judicial candidates; and he serves as a panel member handling fee dispute arbitration hearings for the Virginia State Bar. In his years prior to joining TATE BYWATER, Bob was the senior owner at Fredericks & Stephens, P.C. where he managed and mentored younger associates over the years. Away from the law, Bob is an avid golfer and he enjoys fishing, reading and cooking when time permits. Bob feels blessed that his three adult children all reside close by in the Northern Virginia area. Bob’s years of experience have helped him become gain insight and the ability to assess legal problems and develop creative strategies for the benefit of his clients.