Philip Godwin Jr. has spent 46 years being the kind of lawyer that small counties depend on and big cities rarely produce. Criminal defense in the morning, a real estate clos ing after lunch, a coun ty commissioner’s legal question by late afternoon — and somewhere in be tween, a grieving widow, a first-time homebuyer, a man in serious trouble hoping someone in the courtroom is on his side.
For more on this story, check out the July 1, 2026, edition of the Roanoke Beacon.