Christopher Allen Desimone

Chris has prepared thousands of Wills and Trusts, and devotes 100% of his law practice to estates and trusts. Chris completed advanced training in Trusts and Trustee Standards at the Center for Fiduciary Studies, where he graduated valedictorian of his class. He was voted by his peers as a Virginia Super Lawyer in Estate Planning & Probate, an honor only the top 5% of Virginia lawyers achieve. Chris was profiled by Wealth Management Magazine as an Industry Leader in Estate Planning for the Southeastern United States.

Chris does not care how much money you have. He helps those that have very little money as well as those who are very wealthy.

In 2014, in recognition of his devotion to protecting older adults in our community from financial exploitation, the Virginia House of Delegates appointed Chris to the Virginia Alzheimer’s Commission. As a Commissioner, he serves as an advisor to the Governor and legislature on critical issues affecting those individuals with dementia as well as their caregivers. He serves as a panelist and keynote speaker for Estate Planning Conferences throughout Southwest Virginia and published an article through the Virginia Center on Aging entitled “Protecting the Vulnerable: Free Ways to Prevent Financial Exploitation” that has been distributed to government offices statewide. In addition, Chris was a guest speaker for the Roanoke Law Foundation’s Aging With Dignity event.

In 2013, Chris created and developed Roanoke Star Tank, a program designed to expand the local economy and promote homegrown businesses in our community by connecting entrepreneurs with community investors. It has helped hundreds of local businesses and startups and transformed into a regional entrepreneurial annual summit dedicated to keeping and attracting local talent here in our region.

Since 2014, Chris has served on the Board of Trustees at Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation. In 2018, he became Chairman of the Community College Access Program (CCAP), which makes college available tuition-free to graduates of local high schools.

Chris graduated from the University of Rochester, cum laude, and received his Juris Doctorate and MBA from the University of Buffalo. Chris was commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Army and completed Airborne School to become a paratrooper. He then spent six years as a Judge Advocate in the Army JAG Corps that included duty as a trial lawyer and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. Following active duty, Chris served as Headquarters Company Commander for a U.S. Army Reserve unit in Salem, Virginia. While in the Army, he won a Golden Gloves Boxing Competition in the welterweight novice division and received the IRS Commissioner’s Award for his work in creating and developing an IRS tax center. For his military service, Chris was awarded the Army Achievement Medal, two Meritorious Service Medals and the National Defense Service Medal.

Chris became an Instructor of Estate Planning with the Roanoke Financial Services Institute and is a member of the Estates & Trusts Section of the Virginia State Bar. Chris wrote a monthly column devoted to estate planning in two local publications, and was quoted in The Boston Globe in a front-page article addressing trusts and estates. He was selected by the National Business Institute to teach an educational program, Elder Law in Virginia: Legal and Financial Issues, to fellow attorneys for educational credit. Chris served as an AARP participating attorney for three years and as President of the Smith Mountain Lake Estate Planning Council.

Chris has made several radio guest appearances on WWWR and WFNR talk radio; was a guest lecturer for Roanoke College; and a guest speaker on Blue Ridge Public Television and WDBJ Channel 7 to discuss cutting edge developments in estate planning. Chris is the founder of The Special Needs Symposium, and he received a Special Contribution Award in 2003 for serving families in our community that have loved ones with disabilities. He is married with four children. He is active in a variety of community and charitable activities and has coached youth baseball, basketball, soccer and lacrosse. He and his daughter were Silver Medalists in the 2009 Commonwealth Games Canoe Tandem Division, and he and his son were Gold Medalists in the 2010 Commonwealth Games Canoe Tandem Division. In 2012, Chris returned to the boxing ring and competed in the Ringside National Masters Boxing Championship in Kansas City, Missouri.

Chris is President of Anderson, Desimone & Green, PC, which was nominated as 2012 Small Business of the Year through the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, and has been ranked each year by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best law firms in America. It is the first law firm in the region to accept Bitcoin, an alternative digital currency based on block chain technology, for payments. Anderson, Desimone & Green, PC, is a Founding Member of Blue Ridge PBS Business Club.

Chris has been a featured speaker for the U.S. Postmaster’s Conference; the Virginia Funeral Directors Association; the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors; Brambleton Center SeniorLinks Guest Speaker Series; Bluefield College Heritage Society; Warm Hearth Foundation Estate & Trust Planning Forum; Roanoke County Retired Teachers Association; Lynchburg Academy of Medicine; Virginia Tech Employees Workshop; National Association of Senior Friends Program at Lewis Gale Hospital; The Women’s World Forum; Mom’s Club of Roanoke; The Vinton Women’s Club; National Alliance for the Mentally Ill; Family Service of Roanoke Valley Families Come First Forum; Mount Rogers Community Services Board and Family Support Committee; Franklin County Retired Teacher’s Association; Roanoke Catholic Charitable Trust Workshop; Trinity Ecumenical Church Life For One Program; The E. Louise Brown Missionary Society; Cox Communications Featured Speaker Series; Autism Society of America; Luna Energy Corporation; General Electric Company; Down Syndrome Association; Totera Women’s Club; Society of Financial Service Professionals; Cherokee Hills Women’s Club; Smith Mountain Lake Lions Club; Danville Institute for Advanced Learning and Research Estate Planning Forum; The Sheltered Workshop of Altavista; Villas at Peppers Ferry Estate Plan Workshop; Martinsville Association of Insurance Advisors; American Association of Retired Persons (AARP); Telephone Company Retirees/Pioneer Association; The Lutheran Nursing Home of Virginia; Lynchburg Access For All Institute; Spina Bifida Association; Radford University Employees and Retirees Benefits Planning Conference; Brain Injury Conference for Southwest Virginia; and countless civic organizations and financial institutions.