David L. Hensley was born in Pennington Gap, in rural Southwestern Virginia, on July 14, 1980. He graduated from Lee High School in 1998 and earned a Bachelor’s degree from Radford University in Political Science and a minor in French. While attending Radford University, Mr. Hensley served as President of the Pi Gamma Mu honor society and was a member of the Radford Rugby Football Club. He then earned a Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University and was a member of the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity. He was admitted to practice law in Virginia in 2005.

Mr. Hensley came to Winchester in 2002 after graduating from college and worked for Mr. Gunter as a summer intern for 3 years while attending law school. After passing the bar exam, Mr. Hensley worked for Mr. Gunter as a full-time associate until Mr. Gunter’s death in 2009. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar and past President (2015-2016) of the Winchester-Frederick County Bar Association, of which he is also a member.

Ryan L. Nuzzo was raised in the Richmond area of Virginia. After receiving the rank of Eagle Scout and graduating high school, he went on to receive his Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech, graduating magna cum laude. While attending Virginia Tech, he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society and was a Commonwealth Scholar. Mr. Nuzzo earned a Juris Doctorate from the Appalachian School of Law, where he served as both an Associate Editor and a Senior Editor of the Appalachian Journal of Law. He was also a Trustee’s Scholar, and received Book Awards in Criminal Practice and Advanced Negotiation. He was admitted to practice law in Virginia in 2008.

Mr. Nuzzo began his legal career in Southwest Virginia then in the Roanoke Valley where he was in private practice. His practice areas focused on criminal defense and estate planning. He moved to the Shenandoah Valley in 2012 and was employed by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a Magistrate and, subsequently, as an Assistant Public Defender. Mr. Nuzzo is a member of the Virginia State Bar and the Winchester-Frederick County Bar Association.

In 2023, Mr. Nuzzo received a Winchester Star Award for Best Attorney as voted by readers of The Winchester Star. In 2024, Mr. Nuzzo was again voted Best Attorney and received a Winchester Star Award for that category.

E. Eugene Gunter, founder of Gunter Hensley, P.C., was born in Franktown on Virginia’s Eastern Shore on July 16, 1934. He attended the University of Virginia where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with a minor in French and was inducted into the Delta Pheta Phi Honor Society. He then earned an LLB from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1958 (JD, 1970) and was a member of Phi Eta Sigma Legal Fraternity. He was admitted to practice law in Virginia in 1960.

Mr. Gunter opened his law practice in 1960 in a small office on the second story of a building on Boscawen Street. Not long thereafter, he moved his law firm to the historic Kent Building at 16 South Kent Street where he continued to practice law until his death at the age of 75 in 2009. Mr. Gunter served as the Commonwealth Attorney of Frederick County, Virginia from 1968 to 1970, but spent the vast majority of his career representing individuals in criminal, domestic relations, personal injury and similar matters. He was a member of the Winchester-Frederick County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Virginia State Bar, the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Mr. Gunter was a zealous and tireless advocate for his clients and was accompanied to his office each day with his faithful dog, McGinty.

“In the heart of every lawyer, worthy of the name, there burns a deep ambition so to bear himself that the profession may be stronger by reason of his passage through its ranks, and that he may leave the law itself a better instrument of human justice than he found it.”
– John W. Davis

“[The law] is a jealous mistress, and requires a long and constant courtship. It is not to be won by trifling favors, but by lavish homage.”
The Value and Importance of Legal Studies
– Joseph Story, (1779-1845)