Peter J. Jankell

Peter Jankell was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He earned his BA degree from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and his JD degree, cum laude, from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Virginia. While in his second year of law school, Mr. Jankell received a commission as an ensign in the United States Navy through the Navy's Law Student Program. Mr. Jankell spent 4 years on active duty with the Navy JAG Corps and was stationed at the Naval Legal Service Office, Great Lakes, Illinois where he served as a defense counsel, claims attorney, and trial counsel. Upon his release from active duty, Mr. Jankell moved to Chesapeake, Virginia where he opened his own law firm concentrating on criminal, domestic, and civil litigation. That firm is now the Chesapeake law firm of Jankell & Ireland, P.C. Mr. Jankell affiliated with the Navy Reserve JAG Corps shortly after his release from active duty and served in the Reserves until his retirement at the rank of Commander on January 1, 2013. In 2009, Mr. Jankell graduated from the Command and Staff Program at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Mr. Jankell served on the Board of Governors for the Military Law Section of the Virginia State Bar from 2013 - 2020. He was Chair of that section in 2018 - 2019 and Immediate Past Chair, 2019 - 2020.

Peter Jankell represented the prevailing party in Starr v. Starr, 70 Va.App. 486, 828 S.E.2d 257 (Va. App. 2019), the landmark case which changed how Virginia Courts calculate the marital share of military retirement for equitable distribution in divorce cases. He has moderated and presented at the Annual Military Law Symposium for Virginia CLE in 2019 and 2021 and at the Joint Services Family Law Symposium, Naval Legal Service Office, Mid-Atlantic from 2007 to 2012. In June, 2021, Mr. Jankell was a featured speaker at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar where he presented a Showcase CLE on the Evolution of Military Divorce.