Over his 17 years as a Family Law attorney, David Zangrilli has identified the two crucial factors that steer clients to the most successful outcomes: setting realistic expectations and designing compassionate strategies that offer resolution and relief.
This approach, he notes, allows him to meet each client’s specific needs in the most efficient, thorough, and cost-effective manner possible by providing sound advice, reasonable expectations, and zealous advocacy. David thoroughly educates his clients on the legal process, likely outcomes in court, and reasonable settlement options.
David’s practice spans all facets of matrimonial law, from negotiating and drafting prenuptial agreements for clients engaged to be married, to clients seeking a separation or divorce, to those who were never married but have children and, therefore, custody, visitation, and child support issues. He also represents clients in both uncontested divorce matters and extremely contentious divorces. He successfully settles the majority of his cases through negotiation, mediation, and the drafting of Marital Settlement Agreements, thus saving his clients thousands of dollars by avoiding costly and prolonged litigation. For those cases that cannot be settled, he is well experienced at litigating all facets of family law matters including child custody, visitation rights, child support, spousal support and alimony, the valuation and division of assets (including real estate and retirements), valuing and dividing a spouse’s business, and proving adultery, desertion, or cruelty.
He represents clients in courts throughout Virginia including the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, and Fauquier; as well as the cities of Alexandria and Winchester. Besides practicing in the trial courts, Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Courts, and Circuit Courts, David is often retained by spouses after their trial is finished who were unhappy with the results achieved by their former counsel to file an appeal with the Virginia Court of Appeals. He also has extensive experience representing parents in international custody and kidnapping matters and litigating pursuant to the Hague Convention.
David has received an AV Rating, the highest rating given by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ for his legal ability and general ethical standards. He has also been selected for inclusion as a Virginia Super Lawyers Rising Star for the past seven years, a Washington D.C. Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2014 and 2015, and listed among Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite” Young Lawyers under 40 in 2012.

David M. Zangrilli, Jr., Shareholder
- J.D., University of North Carolina School of Law, 2002
- B.A., magna cum laude, Siena College, 1999
- Virginia
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia
- Alimony
- Annulments
- Assault & Battery Defense
- Business Valuations
- Child Support
- Child Custody & Visitation rights
- Working With Child Protective Services
- Custody Involving A Parent’s Relocation To Other States/Countries
- Divorce
- Divorce Taxation
- Dividing Retirements (including 401k, 403b, IRA, private pension plans, Federal Thrift Savings Plans, Federal Pensions, FERS, CSRS, and military retirements)
- Proving Grounds For Divorce (Adultery, Desertion, Cruelty)
- Equitable Distribution of Property
- Working With Expert Witnesses Including Psychologists, CPAs, Business Valuators, and Vocational Rehabilitation Specialists
- Grandparents’ Rights
- Income Deduction Orders/Garnishment of Wages
- Interstate Custody and Support Issues
- International Custody Litigation / Hague Convention
- Mediation
- Post-divorce Modifications of Custody, Visitation, Child Support & Spousal Support
- Name Changes
- Paternity
- Post-Divorce Enforcement Proceedings
- Pre-nuptial Agreements
- Property & Separation Agreements
- Protective Orders in Cases of Domestic Violence
- Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
- Separate Maintenance
- Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act (UCCJEA)
- Thrift Savings Plans
Reported Cases
- D’Ambrosio v. D’Ambrosio, 45 Va.App.323, 610 S.E. 2d 876 (2005)
Court of Appeals Cases
- Jokich v. Jones, 2003 WL 22658160 (2003)
- D’Ambrosio v. Fowler, 2008 WL 423885 (2008)
- Wolfe v. Arthur, 2008 WL 704066 (2008)
- Kernbach v. Kernbach, Record No. 1070-13-4 (2014)
- Are You “Cohabiting” with Your Girlfriend/Boyfriend Such that Your Alimony May Terminate? ( June 22, 2016 )
- Will Spousal Support Ever End in Virginia? ( June 16, 2016 )
- Cohabitating With A Person Of The Same Sex After Divorce Can Terminate Your Alimony ( May 16, 2016 )
- IRA Rollover Trap (in Divorce Cases) ( August 11, 2014 )
- Burden of Proof in Virginia Divorce Cases – Separate vs. Martial Property ( April 7, 2014 )
- Equitable Distribution: Dividing Assets and Debts in a Divorce – Podcast ( January 30, 2014 )
- Appreciation of Pre-marital Assets upon Divorce ( September 18, 2013 )
- AV Preeminent® Peer Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™
- 2022, Arlington magazine's Top Attorneys – Family Law
- 2015, 2017, 2019, 2021, Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite” — Family/Domestic Law
- 2010-2016, Virginia Super Lawyers Rising Star – Family Law
- 2014-2015, Washington D.C. Super Lawyers Rising Star – Family Law
- 2012, Virginia Business magazine’s “Legal Elite” – Young Lawyers under 40
- April 2006: The Evolving Role of Fault in Divorces, Virginia State Bar – 22nd Annual Advanced Family Law Seminar
- January 2005: Experts, Evidence & Ethics in Your Child Custody Case, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers – Virginia Chapter, Annual Divorce Practice Seminar
- Virginia Bar Association
- Fairfax Bar Association, Family Law Section