Key Attorneys
Sharon M. Goley - is a member of the Virginia, District of Columbia and Maryland bars and has been in private practice for over 30 years. Ms. Goley has been a member of the firm, and its predecessor firm of Margolius, Mallios, Davis, Rider and Tomar, for most of her legal career, with a concentration in business civil litigation on behalf of businesses and property owners. Her practice focuses on representation of property owners and management companies of commercial and residential real estate, and business civil litigation. She represents clients in the federal and state courts and before administrative agencies. Ms. Goley currently leads the firm’s large and growing Landlord Representation Group, and represents clients before local housing commissions and agencies, as well as in local courts. Ms. Goley has lectured and participated on panels and in seminars on Federal and State fair housing issues. She is a past Vice President of the Women’s Bar Association Foundation Board of the District of Columbia, and a member of local bar associations. Ms. Goley is a graduate of the University of Charleston (BS, 1984) and of the Washington College of Law at the American University in Washington, D.C. (JD, 1989).
Ava N. Brown - is a graduate of Barry University in Miami, Florida(B.A. magna cum laude, 1999) and of the American University, Washington College of Law in Washington, DC (J.D., 2003). While in law school, she was a licensed student attorney in the Civil Practice Clinic, and was awarded the Outstanding Student Award by the Clinical legal Education Association. She is admitted to the Maryland State Bar and focuses on landlord and tenant law. Ms. Brown is a member of the Black Women's Bar Association of Suburban Maryland, and resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Melissa Polito - has over 20 years of experience litigating matters in the trial and appellate courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia. She worked for much of her career at the DC firm of Margolius, Mallios, Davis, Rider & Tomar, practicing family and other civil litigation. She now focuses on litigation surrounding real property, including primarily the representation of property owners and management companies. Ms. Polito has served as a volunteer attorney mentor for the DC Bar, led family law training for volunteer family law attorneys, and has volunteered at the DC and Montgomery County Self Help Centers, assisting unrepresented parties in navigating the court system. Ms. Polito received her undergraduate degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and her law degree from the George Washington University National Law Center. She is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Brian D. Riger - was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended George Washington University, earning a B.A., with a Major in History. He earned his Juris Doctor from St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO. He returned to this area, having passed the Missouri Bar, and was employed by the Interstate Commerce Commission prior to entering private practice. In 1979, Mr. Riger formed Metro Legal Services with Robert W. Gildar and J. Thomas Guinta, providing general practice services to residents of the District of Columbia. In 1980,. Robert Gildar and Brian Riger formed a new partnership, under the name of Gildar and Riger, providing general practice legal services for matters in the District of Columbia and Maryland, with an emphasis in landlord-tenant law. Mr. Riger became a member of the District of Columbia Bar in 1976 and became a member of the Maryland Bar in 1981. After Robert Gildar passed away in 1998, Brian Riger continued a solo practice under the name of Gildar and Riger, until January 2020, when he joined Mallios, Rider & Goley, LLP, as “Of Counsel.” Mr. Riger has been advocating on behalf of landlords in Maryland and the District of Columbia for over 40 years and is an experienced litigator in civil matters.