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Real
Estate / Construction
John Sills
Timberlake, Smith,
Thomas & Moses
by Michael Griffis
John Sills |
John
Sills doesn’t go looking for a fight. Far from
it — the Staunton attorney, who specializes in
real estate and construction, says his most important
job is “to make the deal happen. ... When you’re
doing real estate and other transaction work, if your
clients end up in litigation, then you’ve failed,”
he says. “The best deal is one where everyone walks
away from it happy.”
Sills,
managing partner at Timberlake, Smith, Thomas &
Moses, says he finds satisfaction in devising a solution
to a client’s problems. “I generally try to
know the facts and the relevant law, to understand the
positions of the parties in transactional work, to resolve
issues promptly with a minimum of posturing, all with
the ultimate goal of achieving the result a client wants
on a timely basis.”
His style wins clients. He has created “a very
loyal following by doing thorough, competent work,”
says firm partner P. Donald Moses. “He built this
amazing practice by word of mouth, by his reputation,
not with a lot of drum rolling or fanfare on his part.
People know he is so dependable and gets things done
with great efficiency.”
Sills
has a broad, general-business legal practice. He handles
commercial transactions, estate planning and estate
administration, trusts and real estate law. Prominent
clients include the Augusta Hospital Corp., where Sills
is general counsel; Mary Baldwin College, the Central
Shenandoah Planning District Commission and the Trust
Department of Planters Bank & Trust Co. Sills also
does work for the Staunton-Augusta Association of Realtors,
the Staunton Redevelopment and Housing Authority and
Lightsey’s Specialty Blades, Inc., where Sills
is a member of the company’s board of directors.
“We ask for his judgment on business issues,”
says longtime friend and client Martin Lightsey. “None
of us have any legal experience, so we particularly
look for him to provide that guidance. His expertise
in contract law is largely what we’re looking for.”
While Sills may move in business circles, “He is
absolutely not the stereotype of the typical corporate
lawyer,” adds Lightsey. “He’s just a
go-to-work, get-it-done, everyday kind of a guy.”
Strong
analytical skill is another strength Sills brings to
business transactions “He can take a complex situation
— whether we are in a firm meeting or a bank meeting
or listening to a client — he has a wonderful intuition
to break it down and repeat the problem with wonderful
simplicity. It is one of his absolutely astounding abilities,”
says Moses.
Sills
takes little personal credit for his professional success.
Instead, he recognizes the support of family, loyal
clients and the many staffers who helped him along the
way. “I’ve been really fortunate over the
30 years,” he says. Sills came to Staunton in 1971
after graduating from the University of Virginia Law
School and clerking for Virginia Supreme Court Justice
George M. Cochran. Next up as a mentor was Dick Smith,
a partner with the firm that hired Sills and who is
now retired.
Moses
says living in a rural community appeals to Sills, because
he has access to hiking, canoeing and being in the mountains.
“He’s an avid, passionate canoeist, and goes
wherever the water is. He knows the outdoors and he
knows a tremendous amount about nature. Those are his
true passions,” says Moses.
Sills
and his wife Anne have two children, Erin and Jennifer.
He credits his clerkship with Justice Cochran, who was
from Staunton, for his move to this part of Virginia.
“That is what fortunately brought me to Staunton.
I’ve been here ever since.”
Return
to Virginia Business - December 2002
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