Five Cantor Grana Buckner Bucci partners earn 2026 Super Lawyers honors

Cantor, Grana, Buckner, Bucci, P.C. said five attorneys were recognized in the 2026 Virginia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists, underscoring the Richmond firm’s standing in personal injury and trial law. The honors span founding partner Irvin Cantor, partner M. Scott Bucci, and partner Joseph Cantor, while Elliott M. Buckner and Stephanie E. Grana were already named to the Top 5 Personal Injury Plaintiff list.

Why it matters: - Five attorneys from one Richmond personal injury firm made the 2026 Virginia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists, a notable concentration of peer recognition for a firm of this size. - The selections reinforce the firm’s profile in catastrophic injury, traumatic brain injury, medical malpractice, products liability and wrongful death litigation. - The firm’s current attorneys have collectively secured more than 200 verdicts and settlements over $1 million.

What happened: - Cantor, Grana, Buckner, Bucci, P.C. announced that three additional partners earned 2026 Virginia Super Lawyers or Rising Stars recognition. - Elliott M. Buckner and Stephanie E. Grana were already named to the 2026 Top 5: Personal Injury Plaintiff Virginia Super Lawyers list. - Irvin V. Cantor received 2026 Virginia Super Lawyers recognition. - M. Scott Bucci received 2026 Virginia Super Lawyers recognition. - Joseph L. Cantor was named to the 2026 Virginia Super Lawyers Rising Stars list.

The details: - Irvin Cantor was inducted into the inaugural Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame in 2018 as one of 33 attorneys statewide selected for that distinction. - Irvin Cantor has ranked among the Top 10 Virginia Super Lawyers from 2012 to 2018, the Top 100 Virginia Super Lawyers from 2012 to 2021, and the Top 50 Richmond Super Lawyers from 2012 to 2021. - Best Lawyers in America named Irvin Cantor “Lawyer of the Year” in Richmond in Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs in 2014, 2016 and 2025, and in Medical Malpractice Litigation - Plaintiffs in 2020. - Irvin Cantor has practiced trial law in Virginia since 1979 after clerking for the Supreme Court of Virginia following graduation from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1978. - Irvin Cantor’s career includes more than 2,000 favorable verdicts and settlements, including more than 450 traumatic brain injury cases. - Irvin Cantor wrote the brain injury litigation chapter in Brain Injury Medicine and co-authored The Art and Science of Mastering the Jury Trial with Judge Samuel Johnston. - Irvin Cantor is a past president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, a past president of ABOTA’s Virginia Chapter, president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Foundation, and founder and president of Jury Impressions. - M. Scott Bucci has practiced for more than 25 years and tried more than 125 civil cases to verdict in more than 25 Virginia jurisdictions. - Scott Bucci’s verdict win rate is above 75%, measured by beating the offer or demand on admitted liability or winning a contested liability case. - Scott Bucci has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Supreme Court of Virginia, and he has substantial experience in the Eastern District of Virginia’s “Rocket Docket.” - Scott Bucci is a former president of the Virginia Chapter of ABOTA and a former president of SEABOTA, the regional group made up of 13 chapters across the Southeastern states. - Scott Bucci graduated with High Honors from George Mason University School of Law in 1998 after undergraduate study at the University of Virginia, where he received the Malcolm H. Kerr Memorial Scholarship to study in Cairo. - Scott Bucci clerked for the Virginia Beach Circuit Court, worked more than seven years in civil defense litigation representing Wal-Mart in state and federal courts, co-founded Bucci & Dix, PLLC, and later joined the firm’s catastrophic-injury team. - Scott Bucci’s practice centers on catastrophic injury, wrongful death, premises liability and products liability, and other lawyers frequently bring him in as co-counsel on complex retailer and premises cases. - Joseph Cantor has been on the Virginia Rising Stars list since 2019. - Rising Stars is a separate annual selection limited to attorneys under 40 or in practice fewer than 10 years, with no more than 2.5% of eligible attorneys selected in each state. - Joseph Cantor joined the firm in 2017 after graduating cum laude from the University of Richmond School of Law and became a partner in 2022. - Joseph Cantor focuses on traumatic brain injury, tractor-trailer litigation, premises liability and wrongful death. - Joseph Cantor served as co-counsel on a $4 million tractor-trailer settlement in 2018, a $1.25 million traumatic brain injury settlement in 2022 and a $2.125 million motor vehicle crash settlement in 2025. - Joseph Cantor is president of the Brain Injury Association of Virginia board, a district governor of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, social chair of the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. American Inn of Court, and a Virginia Trial Lawyers Association board member since 2021. - Joseph Cantor chaired the inaugural Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Young Trial Lawyers Retreat in 2023 and the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Advanced Traumatic Brain Injury Retreat in 2020. - The firm has represented seriously injured Virginians since 1979 and says its published case results include catastrophic personal injury, traumatic brain injury, medical malpractice, products liability, tractor-trailer crashes and wrongful death. - The firm has been listed as a Brain Injury Association of America Preferred Attorney firm.

Between the lines: - The recognition highlights a firm strategy built around trial work and plaintiff-side catastrophic injury litigation rather than a broad general-practice model. - The mix of senior and younger honorees suggests the firm is pairing long-tenured trial lawyers with the next generation of litigators. - Peer-driven awards like Super Lawyers and Rising Stars can matter in a plaintiff litigation market where reputation, co-counsel relationships and case referrals influence business development.

What's next: - The firm is likely to continue using these recognitions to bolster its standing with injured clients, referring attorneys and co-counsel in complex cases. - The 2026 honors add to a long-running record the firm can point to in future marketing, recruiting and case selection. - More information and other firm updates are available through the firm’s social channels.