Makiba Gaines is a 2018 honors graduate of the Regent University School of Law. A native of the Tidewater Region, Gaines was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, and raised in Norfolk and Virginia Beach. She earned three undergraduate degrees from Penn State University in three years of attendance. During law school, she served on the moot court board and co-led the Law Review alongside the Editor-in-Chief. 

      Also, during law school, Gaines had the rare opportunity to clerk for the federal judge who inspired her to become an attorney. And after excelling in a common law writing course, Gaines was invited to complete a brief internship in the chambers of a justice in the Supreme Court of Virginia.

See Proverbs 18:16.

     Prior to entering private practice, Gaines represented the Commonwealth of Virginia as a prosecutor in her home city of Portsmouth. One of her proudest legal accomplishments is having worked as litigation counsel for the Buried Alive Project, where, under the direction of BKB, Gaines helped free deserving human beings who otherwise would have died in federal prison under outdated drug sentencing laws. As a hobby, Gaines represents non-violent federal prisoners in various pro bono freedom projects.​

      First recognized by her peers as a "Super Lawyer" in her third year of practice, Gaines's star has risen fast. In her second year of practice, before Virginia allowed criminal appeals of right to the Court of Appeals, Gaines argued her first criminal appeal into the twelve percent (12%) of cases awarded merit-based review at the time. When she was less than five years out of law school, Gaines served as lead counsel in the case of Williams v. City of Richmond. Learn more about the facts of the case here. In her sixth year out of law school, Gaines had the rare opportunity to give her first oral argument in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, a privilege reserved for lawyers and litigants who present the best thirteen percent (13%) of all cases on appeal. Of all her appeals, Gaines has had a 100% success rate in being awarded oral argument (a flex, not a guarantee/results vary).​

See Deuteronomy 15:10. 

     Gaines handles civil cases and post-conviction cases in federal and state courts.

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To God be the Glory, forever and ever, Amen. (A flex, and a guarantee).

"In whatever you do, allow the Lord to use your hands for His purposes." -- Makiba Gaines

   
ADMISSIONS

• Supreme Court of Virginia 

• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

• United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia

• United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

EDUCATION
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA:

• A.A. Letters, Arts, Science

• B.A. Political Science       

• B.A. Law

Regent University School of Law, Virginia Beach, VA (Honors Program):

• Juris Doctor

• Executive Editor, Regent University Law Review

• Full Merit Scholarship recipient

Peer Recognition:

• Bar Assoc., Treasurer 2022-2023 

• 2022-2023 WT Mason, Jr. Bar Member of the Year (the highest yearly honor)

• Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2021 -2024

• Virginia Legal Elite, 2022-2023

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