Rhonda Earhart is a Virginia native and a legal editor for FindLaw.com. She graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and obtained a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. She graduated from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1997, where she served as a law review staff member and was a member of the Public Interest Law Association.
She has practiced family law and criminal law in a variety of settings. Upon graduating from law school, Rhonda worked at a small firm, representing clients in all aspects of family law, such as divorce, custody and visitation, support, and adoption. She became certified as a guardian ad litem for children in 1998 and has represented hundreds of children in abuse and neglect, foster care, and custody cases. She also has represented children experiencing mental health crises in involuntary commitment proceedings. Her practice included the defense of both children and adults in criminal matters, which originated in the juvenile and domestic relations district courts. She served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Richmond, Virginia, from 2006-2007.
In 2020, she left solo practice to join the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society in a pilot program that partnered with the Chesterfield Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource Center. In that position, she maintained an office within the Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court building and provided on-site triage legal services to qualified applicants. In that position, she represented domestic violence survivors in protective order hearings, custody, visitation, support hearings, and no-fault divorce proceedings.
She and her partner, Paul, make their home in Richmond, Virginia. Rhonda likes to travel, attend live music festivals and concerts, and spend time with family and friends.
