About Cara Purvis

Cara Purvis attended West Virginia University and was a member of the Pride of West Virginia Marching Band (go Mountaineers!) before moving to Virginia Beach and graduating magna cum laude from Old Dominion University. She received her J.D. from Regent University School of Law.

Cara has devoted her entire career to helping others in the Hampton Roads area as an employment counselor, probation officer, and for the past 18 years, as a trial attorney and Deputy Public Defender in Norfolk, Virginia where she represented indigent persons charged with felony and misdemeanor criminal offenses in the Juvenile & Domestic Relations, General District and Circuit Courts. She handled close to 3200 cases throughout her career which included both jury and bench trials and was regarded as a compassionate client advocate and fierce opponent in the courtroom.

She is a member of the Norfolk/Portsmouth Bar Association, the Virginia Beach Bar Association and serves on various committees including the Bench Bar Relations Committee and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.

She is the proud mother of a son who is the product design lead for a tech/streaming company in California and a daughter who practices law in DC. She is a member of Tapestry Church and enjoys photography and singing at special events.