Heavy Traffic

A subcommittee of the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board has imposed a public reprimand with terms for an attorney retained in a criminal matter

Once engaged, Respondent indicated to Complainant that he would contact the court-appointed attorney for Complainant, file a Motion for Discovery, circulate an Order of Substitution of Counsel (to replace Complainant’s court-appointed attorney), and appear in Court on May 24, 2022, on behalf of Complainant.

However, Respondent did not contact the Complainant’s court-appointed attorney, did not properly file a Motion for Discovery, did not circulate an Order of Substitution of Counsel, and did not appear in Court on May 24, 2022, on behalf of Complainant.

On May 24, 2022, Respondent left court in another jurisdiction in order to appear in Court in Henrico County on behalf of the Complainant but became involved in heavy traffic. While he attempted to contact the Complainant and his mother, he was not able to do so. As a result, when Respondent failed to appear in Court, Complainant proceeded at that hearing in the criminal case with his court-appointed attorney.

Following, Respondent apologized to Complainant for his failures as set forth in paragraph 5, above, but Respondent did not refund to Complainant the unearned advanced fee.

Subsequently, having not received the refund of the unearned advance fee, Complainant contacted the Respondent and demanded the refund of the $3,500 from Respondent.

Respondent refused to refund the advanced fee of $3,500 to Complainant; however, Respondent refunded $2,000 to Complainant, indicating that $1,500 was earned by Respondent by communicating with Complainant on several occasions.

(Mike Frisch)