Amy Tobias was born in Florida and raised in Georgia and Kentucky. She spent her undergraduate days in Chicago and summers in New York City where her parents resided. Amy settled in Virginia in 2004. She graduated from Northwestern University in 2001 with a degree in Communications. After taking a legal argument class in her sophomore year in college, while officially an acting major, Amy discovered she had a passion to argue the law.
Wanting to come back East, Amy attended the Washington College of Law at American University in Washington, D.C. and graduated cum laude in 2004. In her final year of law school, Amy served as President of the Moot Court Honor Society and received the Stephen Wermiel Award for service to Moot Court, in addition to the Outstanding Graduate Award at graduation.
Upon entering law school, Amy's goal was to be a prosecutor. However, after she clerked at the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office during law school, she realized talented and determined prosecutors were abundant, but defendants didn't always receive adequate and qualified representation. Believing in the importance of justice and fairness in our legal process, she decided her skills would best serve the accused by being a part of the process facilitating a fair trial.
After graduating from law school, Amy had the opportunity to clerk for the Judges in the Arlington County Circuit Court. This experience solidified her desire to practice criminal defense. Following her clerkship, Amy joined the newly-established Office of the Public Defender in Arlington County as one of its first hired attorneys.
After working for the Public Defender's Office, Amy entered private practice. She focused on criminal defense, family law and personal injury. In 2009, Amy moved her practice to Prince William County when she joined the Manassas Law Group. Since then, she has continued to represent parties in criminal, family law and personal injury matters in Prince William County as well as Fairfax, Fauquier, and Loudoun counties.
In 2015, Amy established Tobias Law PLLC in Manassas, a solo practice. Within the first year, Amy hired Claire Salitsky, Esq. as her associate attorney and continued to build a practice dedicated to her clients by thorough preparation and strategy. In 2017 Amy formed Dougherty Tobias Iszard Northern Virginia Law, PC. In April 2021, Amy formed Tobias Iszard, PC with her partner, Ashleigh Iszard.
Amy continues to represent defendants in criminal cases - from traffic matters and misdemeanors to felony cases such as theft, drug offenses and sexual offenses. Defending the accused is still her passion and drives her to pursue every avenue of defense to ensure a fair result for her clients.
Amy has practiced extensively in the area of family law handling adoptions, divorces, custody and visitation matters, support matters, protective orders, and abuse and neglect cases. Serving the families of Prince William County has been a great honor. It takes a certain kind of person to practice family law, someone who can advise and counsel as well as advocate for and defend clients and their families. It requires a delicate balance and one that Amy has perfected over many years, making her extremely knowledgeable and effective for her clients.
As part of her family law practice, Amy has handled appeals to the Court of Appeals of Virginia. In Craig v. Craig, Amy successfully defended the ruling of the Circuit Court in favor of her client regarding the division of a civil federal pension. In this published opinion by the Court of Appeals, her position regarding the underlying legal issue was upheld and an important ruling on attorney's fees in post-divorce litigation was given. In Gregory v. Gregory, Amy successfully appealed a decision by the Circuit Court in which her client was required to pay spousal support and keep all of the debt and divide his retirement with his wife. The Court of Appeals found that the Circuit Court's findings were inconsistent with its rulings and overturned the case granting a new trial in the Circuit Court. Amy recently argued the case of Jackson v. Jackson as her first case in the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Amy has handled many car accident cases as well as dog bite cases and injury cases on the property of third parties. It is the goal of an insurance company to settle a case for as little as possible, sometimes resulting in the injured party receiving far less than they need or deserve. Amy strives to maximize her clients' recovery and advises her clients throughout the process about the best course of action to receive the best result.
Amy is a member of the Prince William County Bar Association and served as its President in 2014. Amy served on the Prince William County Bar Foundation Board in 2013 and 2015. She is also a member of the Fairfax County Bar Association.
