Submission declined on 21 February 2026 by MightyRanger (talk). This draft reads like an advertisement. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a platform for promotion or marketing. Drafts that are exclusively promotional may be deleted without notice. Wikipedia articles must be written neutrally in a formal, impersonal, and dispassionate way. They should not read like a blog post, advertisement, or fan page. Rewrite the draft to remove: promotional language: see Words to watch; personal commentary: opinions or direct addresses to the reader; informal language. Instead, only summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. If you have a conflict of interest (e.g. you are the subject, an employee, or a relative) or are being paid to edit, you must disclose this to comply with Wikipedia's Terms of Use. If you would like to continue working on the submission, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window. If you have not resolved the issues listed above, your draft will be declined again and potentially deleted. If you need extra help, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. Please do not remove reviewer comments or this notice until the submission is accepted. Where to get help If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews. If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed. How to improve a draft Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia. Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Add tags to your draft Editor resources Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs Declined by MightyRanger 5 months ago. Last edited by MightyRanger 5 months ago. Reviewer: Inform author. Resubmit Please note that if the issues are not fixed, the draft will be declined again.

Submission declined on 29 January 2026 by ChrysGalley (talk). This draft appears to contain text generated by a large language model (such as ChatGPT). You cannot use LLMs to generate article content. LLM-generated pages with certain obvious signs of being machine generated may be deleted without notice. Instead, only summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. See the advice page on large language models for more information. This draft's references do not show that the subject meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for organizations and companies. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that: provide significant coverage: discuss the subject in detail, excluding routine coverage like product launches, staff appointments, or financial reports and listings in databases or listicles; are reliable: from reputable outlets with editorial oversight; are independent: not connected to the subject, such as press releases, the subject's own website, or sponsored content. Please add references that meet all three of these criteria. If none exist, the subject is not yet suitable for Wikipedia. Declined by ChrysGalley 6 months ago.

Submission declined on 23 January 2026 by Monkeysmashingkeyboards (talk). This draft appears to contain text generated by a large language model (such as ChatGPT). You cannot use LLMs to generate article content. LLM-generated pages with certain obvious signs of being machine generated may be deleted without notice. Instead, only summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. See the advice page on large language models for more information. This draft reads like an advertisement. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a platform for promotion or marketing. Drafts that are exclusively promotional may be deleted without notice. Wikipedia articles must be written neutrally in a formal, impersonal, and dispassionate way. They should not read like a blog post, advertisement, or fan page. Rewrite the draft to remove: promotional language: see Words to watch; personal commentary: opinions or direct addresses to the reader; informal language. Instead, only summarize in your own words a range of independent, reliable, published sources that discuss the subject. If you have a conflict of interest (e.g. you are the subject, an employee, or a relative) or are being paid to edit, you must disclose this to comply with Wikipedia's Terms of Use. Declined by Monkeysmashingkeyboards 6 months ago.

• Comment: Small changes to 3 sentences is not going to undo the work of LLM. It needs a rewrite by a human being, and a good place to start is WP:YFA. Notability is found via WP:NORG and at the moment it's not clear that is in place, given that this needs coverage by fully independent reliable sources. See the Acme example to see how it's more than just having some newspaper items.
  If the submitting editor has a connection with the firm or is employed by the firm, this needs to be declared via WP:COI. ChrysGalley (talk) 22:06, 29 January 2026 (UTC)

{{Infobox law firm | name = Gentry Locke Attorneys | logo = | image_size = | alt = | headquarters = Roanoke, Virginia, U.S. | num_offices = | offices = Roanoke · Lynchburg · Richmond · Norfolk | num_attorneys = 80+ | practice_areas = Corporate, Construction, General Commercial, Labor & Employment, White Collar Crime & Government Investigations

| key_people =

| date_founded = 1923 | website = www.gentrylocke.com/}

Gentry Locke is a US-based law firm based in Virginia. The firm was founded in 1923 when Fred B. Gentry began practicing law at the Roanoke, Virginia firm Funkhouser and Apperson.^[1] In 1948, John H. Locke joined as an associate and in 1951 Richard C. Rakes joined the firm.^[2] The firm has grown into one of Virginia's largest law firms, with over 80 attorneys, four offices, and more than 100 years of continuous operation.^[3]

The firm was founded in 1923 when Fred B. Gentry began practicing law at the Roanoke, Virginia firm Funkhouser and Apperson.^[1] In 1948, John H. Locke joined as an associate and in 1951 Richard C. Rakes joined the firm.^[2]

In 1961, S.D. Moore joined the firm^[4] and in 1963 William R. Rakes joined.^[5] In 1965, the firm's name was changed to Gentry Locke Rakes & Moore and was principally an insurance defense firm.^[6]

In 1977, the firm expanded into what is now known as the Gentry Locke/Truist Building as part of the revitalization effort in downtown Roanoke.

Throughout the 70s and 80s the firm grew its commercial practice to include corporate, banking, tax, and environmental work.^[7]

In the 90s, the firm grew its plaintiff's personal injury practice. In 1999, G. Michael Pace, Jr. became Managing Partner.^[8]

In 2013, Monica Taylor Monday became Managing Partner. Monica was the first female Managing Partner of a large Virginia based law firm.^[1]

In 2015, the firm opened an office in Lynchburg, Virginia.

In 2018, Gentry Locke opened an office in Richmond, Virginia in the heart of the state's capital. The firm also grew its Government and Regulatory Affairs practice and opened Gentry Locke Consulting, a full-service public affairs firm.^[9]

In 2023, K. Brett Marston became Managing Partner and a new Executive Board was created with Monica Taylor Monday serving as Chair. The firm also opened an office in Norfolk, Virginia.^[10]

• In January 2026, the Supreme Court of Virginia struck down the largest jury verdict in Virginia history, a $2.3 billion award. Gentry Locke Chair Monica Taylor Monday and Partner Michael J. Finney served as appellate counsel for Pegasystems, Inc., a global software company in its appeal of competitor Appian Corporation's trade secret award.^[11]
• Gentry Locke was retained in 2025 by passengers of a Delta Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines flight for an alleged bed bug infestation during their international flight to Serbia.^[12]
• In 2025, Gentry Locke represented a high school student in Roanoke, Virginia in a defamation case against Brandon Bell (Virginia politician) and his wife. The jury found that the former Virginia State Senator and his wife falsely accused the high school student of sexual assault in a letter sent to Roanoke County Public School officials and state leaders.^[13]
• In June 2022, Gentry Locke was part of the team retained to represent Bhagavan "Doc" Antle, a star of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King against wildlife trafficking charges from the U.S. Department of Justice.^[14]
• Gentry Locke represented Dr. Scott Ziegler, former Superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools, one of the largest public school divisions in the state of Virginia. Dr. Ziegler was fired due to responses to a 2021 sexual assault case.^[15]
• In 2017, Gentry Locke was retained to represent a whistleblower that claimed Duke University falsified research data in federal grant applications. Duke agreed to pay $112.5 million in settlement for violations of the False Claims Act.^[16]
• Gentry Locke was part of the defense team in the 2016 defamation case against Rolling Stone Magazine and freelance writer Sabrina Rubin Erdely, who published the A Rape on Campus article about an alleged gang rape at a University of Virginia fraternity.^[17]

• John G. (Chip) Dicks, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
• Tammy M. Finley, former Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary for Advance Auto Parts, Inc.
• Michael S. Gulland, former Supervisory Special Agent and Chief Legal Counsel for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
• Greg D. Habeeb, former member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
• Carlos L. Hopkins, former Virginia Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs; served as Counsel to Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.
• Zachary T. Lee, former United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.
• K. Brett Marston, current President of the Virginia State Bar.^[18]
• John M. Scheib, former Senior Executive and Chief Legal Officer for Norfolk Southern Corporation.
• Noah P. Sullivan, former Deputy Counsel and Counsel to Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe.

• The firm was named one of the Best Places to Work in Virginia by Virginia Business.^[19]
• In 2025, Chambers USA recognized four of the firm's practices: construction, labor & employment, general commercial litigation, and white collar crime & government investigations. Several firm partners, including Gentry Locke's white‑collar practice leaders, construction partners, and appellate practice leader were also ranked.^[20]
• Gentry Locke was named the Best Law Firm in Southwest Virginia by Virginia Living.^[21]

• Official website