Court level
96 % District · 4 % Circuit
Brian Dunnigan
Defense counsel of record in 768 Virginia cases (2025)
Cases of record · 2025768
Brian Dunnigan appeared as defense counsel of record in 768 Virginia court cases during 2025, drawn from Virginia District and Circuit Court Information Systems.
Primary jurisdiction
Virginia Beach · 179 cases
Most common charge
Reckless Driving · 162
Across 648 resolved 2025 cases, 53% were dropped — 97 nolle prossed and 245 dismissed.
Case outcomes
Resolved cases — 648 of 768. "Resolved" means a final disposition was reached. Pending cases and probation revocations are excluded.
Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology. Convicted = guilty disposition on originally filed charge. Reduced = guilty disposition with non-empty amended charge. Dropped = nolle prosequi or dismissal. Acquitted = found not guilty at trial.
Plea vs trial · Circuit Court
Of 9 Circuit Court cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict, how many pled and how many went to trial. General District Court records do not distinguish a guilty plea from a bench-trial conviction, so this record is limited to Circuit Court, where the distinction is recorded.
Pled guilty
667%
Resolved by guilty plea — no trial.
Went to trial
333%
0 acquittals · 3 convictions at trial.
Trial acquittal rate
0%
0 of 3 trial verdicts ended in acquittal.
Top charge — Reckless Driving
Brian Dunnigan's most common charge category in 2025 (162 cases of record · 157 resolved). Outcomes use the same definitions as the overall view.
Acquittals are tracked at the overall level — the top-charge view shows the three primary disposition paths. See the Reckless Driving page for jurisdiction-wide context.
Cases like yours
Brian Dunnigan's most common charge × jurisdiction combinations in 2025. If your charge and county appear here, this attorney has handled cases like yours specifically — at the volume shown. Minimum 3 cases per row.
| Charge | Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reckless Driving | Northampton County | 39 | 36 | 3 |
| Reckless Driving | Virginia Beach | 33 | 31 | 2 |
| Reckless Driving | Chesapeake | 20 | 19 | 1 |
| Weapons Offense | Norfolk | 16 | 14 | 2 |
| Reckless Driving | Hampton | 15 | 14 | 1 |
| Reckless Driving | Norfolk | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| DUI / DWI | Virginia Beach | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| Weapons Offense | Virginia Beach | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| Reckless Driving | Newport News | 10 | 9 | 1 |
| Reckless Driving | Suffolk | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Assault & Battery | Norfolk | 8 | 8 | 0 |
| Assault & Battery | Chesapeake | 7 | 7 | 0 |
See also
Reckless Driving outcomes in Northampton County — every attorney's 2025 outcomes for Reckless Driving cases in Northampton County, using the same definitions as above.
Reduction targets
When the original charge was reduced, the case was most often resolved as one of the following lesser charges.
Improper Driving
39
75/55 Sp
5
44/35 Sp
4
74/55 Sp
4
Failure to Carry/Exhibit License
3
No Driver's License
3
44/35 Sp
2
54/45 Sp
2
Where cases were heard
Top jurisdictions by case volume in 2025.
| Jurisdiction | Cases | District | Circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia Beach | 179 | 172 | 7 |
| Chesapeake | 158 | 154 | 4 |
| Norfolk | 118 | 115 | 3 |
| Northampton County | 75 | 71 | 4 |
| Hampton | 58 | 56 | 2 |
| Newport News | 51 | 46 | 5 |
| Portsmouth | 46 | 44 | 2 |
| Suffolk | 40 | 40 | 0 |
| York County | 14 | 14 | 0 |
Case mix by charge
Charge categories Brian Dunnigan appeared on as defense counsel of record, 2025.
| Charge category | Cases | Resolved | Convicted | Dropped | Reduced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other | 216 | 174 | 38 | 121 | 8 |
| Traffic Infraction | 180 | 154 | 56 | 78 | 18 |
| Reckless Driving | 162 | 157 | 30 | 37 | 85 |
| Weapons Offense | 44 | 33 | 12 | 20 | 0 |
| DUI / DWI | 30 | 26 | 22 | 1 | 3 |
| Assault & Battery | 28 | 26 | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| Larceny / Theft | 18 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Driving Suspended | 15 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Drug Possession | 15 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Failure to Appear | 10 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
Other attorneys with cases in Virginia Beach
Listed by case volume in Virginia Beach, 2025.
| Attorney | Virginia Beach cases | Total (statewide) |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Pfeiffer | 885 | 940 |
| Cole Roberts | 429 | 829 |
| Roger Whitus | 358 | 388 |
| Joel Kinney | 290 | 395 |
| John Greenside | 217 | 675 |
| Peter Louie | 197 | 447 |
| Michael A Robusto | 185 | 185 |
| Brian Latuga | 173 | 277 |
What this data does not show
- Retained matters not of court record — cases settled before formal counsel of record was entered
- Federal court cases — state-court records only
- Case facts, evidence quality, witness cooperation, or client circumstances
- Plea-versus-trial strategy, motion practice, or sentencing advocacy
- Quality of legal representation
- The 19th Judicial Circuit (Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Falls Church) Circuit Court is not in CIS — district-level cases for those three jurisdictions are included; circuit-level are not. See coverage notes.
Outcomes reflect the recorded facts of cases, not the quality of advocacy. Past outcomes do not predict future case results. For legal advice, consult a licensed Virginia attorney.
Common questions
Quick reference for journalists, researchers, and AI assistants citing this page.
Brian Dunnigan appeared as defense counsel of record in 768 Virginia court cases during 2025 — 740 in District Court and 28 in Circuit Court. Source: Virginia DCIS + CIS public records.
Virginia Beach, with 179 of 768 2025 cases handled there.
In 2025 the most common charge category in Brian Dunnigan's case record was Reckless Driving (162 cases). The full charge mix is in the table above.
Of 648 resolved cases: 25% convicted of original charge (164), 53% dropped (342 = 97 nolle prossed + 245 dismissed), 19% reduced to a lesser charge (123), 3% acquitted (19). Outcomes use strict definitions per the methodology.
Of 9 Circuit Court cases ending in a guilty or not-guilty verdict (Circuit Court is the only level where Virginia records distinguish a guilty plea from a bench-trial conviction), 6 (67%) resolved by guilty plea and 3 (33%) went to trial — 0 acquittals and 3 convictions at trial.
Virginia District Court Information System (DCIS) and Circuit Court Information System (CIS), 2025 calendar year, direct extraction. Aggregated by defense counsel of record per the methodology. Last updated July 8, 2026.
This page shows the 2025 public slice of the record — cases meeting the publication threshold, aggregated by counsel of record. Attorneys can commission an Annual Practice Review from VCF Intelligence — the complete attributed record, with peer benchmarks, venue-by-venue outcomes, and officer and prosecutor patterns. Corrections to this page go through the correction form.
Looking for representation in Virginia Beach? See VCF's free case-review process — qualified Virginia attorneys, matched on your charge and jurisdiction. Independent of any attorney featured on this page.
Methodology
Cases are counted by defense counsel of record as recorded in DCIS (district) and CIS (circuit). Outcomes use the strict definitions published at virginiacourtfile.com/methodology. Resolved includes only cases with final disposition codes (Guilty, Not Guilty, Dismissed, Nolle Prosequi). Convicted is a guilty disposition on the originally filed charge with no amended charge. Reduced is a guilty disposition with a non-empty amended charge field. Dropped combines Dismissed and Nolle Prosequi. Pending cases, certifications, and probation revocations are excluded from the outcome rates above.
Citation
VirginiaCourtFile.com. "Brian Dunnigan — Virginia Defense Attorney Case Data, 2025." Available at https://www.virginiacourtfile.com/attorneys/brian-dunnigan. Source: Virginia District Court Information System and Circuit Court Information System, 2025.
Data last refreshed July 8, 2026. For statewide outcome context, see the 2025 Virginia Criminal Court Outcomes report.