Stuart Walter Nolan Jr.

Stu Nolan primarily represents Christian apostolates, Catholic institutions, "Pro-Life" organizations, and faithful families with legal needs in the areas of administrative litigation, appellate practice, business entity formation, nonprofit law, regulatory compliance, contracts and transactions. Historically, his practice has focused on broadcast spectrum users and especially those interested in expanding the coverage of evangelistic media. In recent years he has increasingly assisted nonprofits with formation, recognition, and reform of governance documents.  Stu is general counsel to the Catholic Radio Association, and he represents many of that organization's members.  He is a member of the Virginia Bar and is admitted to practice before the Federal Courts of Appeals for the District Columbia and Fourth Circuits. 

Stu is chairman of the Board of Directors of Human Life International, the world's largest international pro-life advocacy organization.  He serves on the Board of Directors of Trail Life USA, an expressly Christian youth adventuring organization and  is founding chairman of the National Catholic Committee for Trail Life USA. He is founding Troopmaster of Our Lady of Guadalupe Troop 1212, a unit of Trail Life USA.  He is also founder and executive director of the WitnessWorks Foundation for a Culture of Life, and he serves on the Board of Advisors of Life Decisions International.

Stu is a Past Grand Knight of St. John Bosco Council #12846 in Springfield, Virginia. He is a member of the National Lawyers Association, the Federalist Society, the Brent Society, John Carroll Society, the Thomas More Society, and Federal Communications Bar Association. 

Background

Born and raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Stu earned his law degree at Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in 1998. He was a research assistant in that school's Law & Religion Program and earned certificates from its Institute for Communications Law Studies and from a special program in Law & Public Policy. 

Prior to beginning his legal career, Stu received his undergraduate degree in political science and communications from American University in 1992. He then worked extensively in the public policy realm of Washington, DC, gaining experience at think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation, Capital Research Center, and the Progress & Freedom Foundation, as well as the Federal Communications Commission, U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, and as a clerk with a legislative law practice.

Stu began his legal career by representing broadcasters at the Washington, DC, law firm of Wood, Maines & Brown, Chartered, beginning a tenure that would stretch for a dozen years working alongside the firm's majority shareholder, Barry D. Wood, Esq. S tu became a shareholder in the firm, then known as Wood, Maines & Nolan, PC, and the firm re-located across the Potomac River to Arlington, Virginia. He left the firm in late 2010 in order to focus entirely on an expressly faith-driven law practice.

Family

Stu and his wife, Cynthia, have been married for more than two decades and have been blessed with five children, ages 8 to 19 years. They are active in parish life at St. John the Baptist parish in Front Royal, Virginia, and in the John Carrell Jenkins council of the Knights of Columbus, where Stu is a member of the Fourth Degree.