Frank West Morrison was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on November 28, 1944. He received his B.A. degree from Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, in 1967. Mr. Morrison subsequently attended law school at Washington & Lee where he graduated magna cum laude in 1970.

Mr. Morrison served as a Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, U.S. Army, from 1971 to 1974. He practiced with William Rosenberger, Jr., in Lynchburg, Virginia, until October of 1976, was a partner in the law firm of Bell, Morrison & Spies from October, 1976, until April of 1988, was a partner in the law firm of O'Keeffe, Morrison & Spies from April of 1988 to June of 1991 and has been a partner with Phillips, Morrison, Johnson & Ferrell from July 1, 1991, to present. Mr. Morrison's practice is concentrated in family law and mediation. Mr. Morrison's wife, Gail Johnson Morrison, a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, is Director of Publications at Virginia Episcopal School, Lynchburg, Virginia.

Mr. Morrison has been heavily involved with bar activities over the years and has served as Chair of the following organizations: The Virginia State Bar Family Law Section, the Virginia State Bar/Virginia Bar Association Joint Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution, the Family Law Section of the Lynchburg Bar, the Virginia State Bar Resolution of Fee Disputes Committee of the 24th Judicial Circuit, the Continuing Education Subcommittee of the Virginia Bar Association Domestic Relations Section Council, the Lynchburg Bar Association, the Young Lawyer's Section of the Virginia State Bar, the Law-Related Education Committee of the Young Lawyer's Section of the Virginia State Bar, and the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section Mediation Subcommittee. Mr. Morrison has also served for 13 years as a member of Bar Council for the 24th Judicial Circuit, has recently completed a three-year term as a member of the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association, has served as a member of the Divorce Education Study Committee of the Virginia legislature, has served as a member of the Quadrennial Child Support Guidelines Review Panel, has served as a member of the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section Legislative Subcommittee and as a member and Vice-Chair of the Virginia State Bar Special Committee on Resolution of Fee Disputes. Mr. Morrison also formed and was a member of the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section Child custody Education Committee which produced a Spare the Child videotape and a brochure which is distributed and shown throughout the Virginia court system which helps parents not to put their children in the middle of their custody and domestic relations disputes.

Mr. Morrison currently serves as Chair of the Family Law Section of the Lynchburg Bar Association, was a founding member of the Dispute Resolution Services Advisory Council of the Virginia Supreme Court, is a member and chair of the Continuing Education Subcommittee of the Joint Virginia State Bar/Virginia Bar Association Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution, is a member of the Ethics Committee of the Virginia State Bar/Virginia Bar Association Joint Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution, is a member of the Virginia State Bar Family Law Section Ethics Code Review Committee, is a member of the Mediator Review Committee of the Supreme Court of Virginia, and is a member and chair of the Continuing Education Subcommittee of the Virginia Bar Association Domestic Relations Section Council.

Mr. Morrison has been a frequent lecturer to attorneys through various continuing legal education programs and bar seminars lecturing on more than fifty occasions to attorneys about family law and mediation over the last fifteen years. He has written numerous articles for lawyers and mediators over the years, including "To Separate Without Deserting: The Plight of the Economically Dependent Spouse," "The Divorce Court's Jurisdiction Over Life Insurance," "One Mediator's View on Ethics," "Ethical Standards for the Family Mediator," and "Balancing Parents' Rights vs. The Best interest of the Children."

Mr. Morrison currently teaches negotiation and mediation at Washington & Lee Law School, has also served as a co-trainer of family attorney mediators on numerous occasions, taught a course at the Central Virginia Community College in Lynchburg, Virginia, for ten years on domestic relations, has been a Commissioner in Chancery for the 24th Judicial District since 1984 and a Judge pro tempore and arbitrator in family law cases since 1992 and sat as a substitute judge in the 24th Judicial District Juvenile & Domestic Relations District Courts for over twenty years.

Mr. Morrison has also been trained to provide collaborative family law services as an attorney representing parties in a collaborative negotiation process.

Mr. Morrison is a member of the Lynchburg and Campbell County Bar Associations', the American Bar Association, the Virginia Bar Association and the Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association and the Virginia Mediation Network.

Mr. Morrison has also been very involved in the Lynchburg community, having previously served on two separate occasions as a Vestry member and Senior and Junior Warden at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, Virginia, has been involved with the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Virginia on various committees, and served on the following boards: Community Corrections Resource Board, Mental Health Association, Daily Bread, Lynchburg Community Action Group, Family Services of Central Virginia, Lynchburg Board of Zoning Appeals,. Sweet Briar College Continuing Education Committee, and the Virginia Legal Aid Society.

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