Cynthia Epps Hudson

Following an extensive career in public legal service for both local government and the Commonwealth of Virginia as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Cynthia Hudson now performs legal and government affairs services in support of Virginia local governments and other clients as owner and managing attorney of Eppes-Hudson Law, PLLC.  She also provides mediation and ombuds services as a member of The McCammon Group.  This work follows her successful tenure in the government practice group of Sands Anderson PC where she provided advice and counsel to a wide range of local governments, school boards, regional authorities, and other Virginia local and state public entities.  
Cynthia served from 2014 to 2020 as Chief Deputy Attorney General of Virginia in the administration of former Attorney General Mark R. Herring.  As Chief Deputy AG, Cynthia managed the legal services provided by the “law firm” for Virginia state government, overseeing the legal work and administrative matters for a staff of nearly three hundred lawyers and another 150 or so support staffers.  

Prior to her work as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Cynthia served as City Attorney for the City of Hampton, Virginia from 2006 to 2014, following several years as Deputy City Attorney for Hampton where she managed the City’s litigation and government administrative compliance matters.  Still earlier in her career she worked in private practice at McGuire Woods LLP, specializing in labor and employment law and civil rights matters for government, corporate and non-profit entities.  She has been an Adjunct Professor in State and Local Government law at the William & Mary Law School and now serves on the Board of Visitors of the College of William & Mary.

As a dedicated public servant, Hudson was appointed by former Governor Ralph Northam to Chair the Governor's Commission to Examine Racial Inequity in the Law and by former Governor Terry McAuliffe as Co-Chair of his Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.  She previously led the Local Government Attorneys of Virginia (LGA) as President in 2013, and in 2021 received the highest award bestowed by LGA:  the Finnegan-Whiting Award for Distinguished Public Service.  

Cynthia’s experience, leadership and civic engagement have been recognized in several ways, including by her induction as a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation (2015); receipt of the Oliver Hill Civil Rights Leader award from the Richmond Chapter of the NAACP (2018), and recognition in Virginia Lawyers Weekly's first Class of Influential Women of Law (2019). In addition, she is or has been a board member of numerous and varied professional, civic and non-profit organizations, including the Virgnia Law Foundation, the Virginia Bar Association, the Peninsula YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Hampton Roads, Bridging Virginia and the Moton Museum.

A native of Nottoway County, Virginia, Hudson received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her law degree from the College of William & Mary.