Shannon Daily isn’t afraid to trek through difficult cases. She has represented two creditors in adversary proceedings related to the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, the largest Chapter 11 filing in United States history. Last December, she was part of a team that represented a client on an appeal of a bankruptcy court settlement order before the U.S. Supreme Court, which rarely hears such issues. In Richmond, she’s been recognized for her representation in Health Diagnostic Laboratory’s Chapter 11 case.

Daily carries this courage into her pro bono work. She’s a chairwoman and board member with Legal Information Network for Cancer, a local nonprofit that seeks to ease the burden of cancer. But she makes time to honor a longtime hobby: horseback riding. Recently, she prevented a local rescue organization from losing more than 60 mustangs.

When stakes are high, Daily recalls the words of her riding instructor: “You can’t call yourself an expert until you’ve fallen off at least seven times.” 

“When I was nine, I took this quite literally and yearned for my seventh fall,” Daily jokes. “While I’ve had far more than seven failures in my life, I try to learn from each one and avoid letting fear keep me from taking risks in the future.”