About Matthew Joseph
Matthew Joseph Yao began his legal formation at the University of Virginia. He completed a B.S. in Commerce, concentrating on management and information technology in 2003. He returned to Charlottesville for law school and earned his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2007.
After law school, Yao established a practice in Northern Virginia. He has been an active member of the Virginia State Bar since 2010. In 2010 he practiced as Matthew J. Yao, Lawyer at Law. Four years later he formed Yao Law Office, P.C., serving as its managing lawyer in 2014. In 2015 he joined Woehrle Dahlberg Jones Yao, PLLC as a partner.
Beyond firm roles, Yao has taken on formal responsibilities in court-appointed work. He holds certifications from the Supreme Court of Virginia to serve as guardian ad litem for children and as guardian ad litem for incapacitated adults. Those certifications have guided part of his casework and placed him in proceedings that require court-appointed advocacy and periodic reporting to judges and social services professionals.
Yao’s association memberships map to his areas of practice. He has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 2015. He joined the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Virginia in 2012, and the Fairfax Bar Association in 2013. Those memberships reflect sustained ties to professional communities in Northern Virginia and to specialty groups that address immigration and multicultural client needs.
Colleagues describe Yao as methodical in case preparation and attentive in hearings. He balances client intake and courtroom work, moving between administrative filings and in-person advocacy. His background in commerce and information technology informs how he organizes discovery and manages client records. The guardian ad litem roles add an element of child- and adult-centered advocacy to his docket.
Today Yao practices in Fairfax and the broader Northern Virginia region. His work includes immigration matters and guardianship proceedings, alongside related family and administrative court matters.
