Kent Gilliam is a lifelong resident of Chesterfield County. He and his wife, Sherry have six children and seven grandchildren.   He attended the University of Richmond, receiving his B.A. in 1979.  That same year he enrolled in the T. C. Williams School of Law at The University of Richmond and received his Juris Doctor Degree in 1982.  During his third year of law school, Kent served as a clerk to the Honorable Ernest P. Gates of the Chesterfield County Circuit Court.

Since 1982, Kent has been engaged in private practice focusing primarily in the areas of debt collection, creditors’ rights, personal injury, business law and estate planning.  He is admitted to practice in all courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia as well as the Federal District Courts for the Eastern and Western District of Virginia, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. Bankruptcy Court.