November 29, 2023
Virginia State Bar Clients’ Protection Fund Board Pays $130,014 on Twenty-three Petitions
The Virginia State Bar Clients’ Protection Fund Board authorized payments totaling $130,014 in reimbursements to petitioners regarding six Virginia attorneys at its September 15, 2023, meeting.
The board approved payments of $4,500, $3,000, and $2,000 to three former clients of Brittani Nata’lita Baldwin of Williamsburg for failing to perform all of the work for which she was paid in divorce cases. Baldwin’s license was suspended based on impairment on February 6, 2023 and revoked effective August 17, 2023.
A former client of James Cooper Bell of Farmville, received a payment of $300 as reimbursement for fees paid for representation for a traffic matter. The client retained Bell’s services in November 2022. Bell died suddenly in January 2023 before completing work for the client.
The board approved a payment of $1,500 to a former client of Patrick R. Bynum Jr. of Richmond for failure to complete legal work in a criminal matter before Bynum’s death in September 2022.
A total of $30,450 was approved for reimbursement to eleven former clients of Mark Edward Englisby of Midlothian who died in March 2023. The Board approved payments ($7,500, $5,000, $4,500, $3,500, $2,500, $1,750, $1,750, $1,500, $1,250, $1,125, and $75) for unearned fees regarding Englisby’s representation of clients in criminal, family law and civil litigation matters.
Six former clients of David Gary Hoffman of Fairfax received payments of $21,580, $19,000, $17,259, $14,900, $7,500, and $7,225 as reimbursement for fees paid to Hoffman for future estate planning and/or estate administration services that Hoffman has not performed and will not perform. Hoffman’s license was revoked in December 2021 for similar actions.
A former client of Charles Gregory Phillips of Salem, received a payment of $800 for reimbursement for lack of services rendered in a divorce case. Phillips’s license to practice law was suspended in May 2023. His license was subsequently revoked in October 2023.
A chart of the amounts paid as a result of the meeting follows. The board delays the release of the final chart, as the awards given to new petitioners are subject to a 30-day appeal period.
| Docket Number |
Lawyer's Name |
City of Record |
Amount Paid |
Type of Case |
|
23-555-003421
|
Brittani Nata’lita Baldwin
|
Williamsburg, VA
|
$4,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003423
|
Brittani Nata’lita Baldwin
|
Williamsburg, VA
|
$3,000.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003436
|
Brittani Nata’lita Baldwin
|
Williamsburg, VA
|
$2,000.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003434
|
James C. Bell (Deceased)
|
Farmville, VA
|
$300.00
|
Unearned Fee/Traffic Offenses
|
|
23-555-003429
|
Patrick R. Bynum, Jr. (Deceased)
|
Richmond, VA
|
$1,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Criminal Law
|
|
23-555-003454
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$7,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003451
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$5,000.00
|
Unearned Fee/Criminal Law
|
|
23-555-003443
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$4,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003433
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$3,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003425
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$2,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003422
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$1,750.00
|
Malpractice/Negligence/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003450
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$1,750.00
|
Unearned Fee/Criminal Law
|
|
23-555-003449
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$1,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Traffic Offenses
|
|
23-555-003424
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$1,250.00
|
Malpractice/Negligence/Family Law
|
|
23-555-003441
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$1,125.00
|
Unearned Fee/Civil Litigation
|
|
23-555-003452
|
Mark Edward Englisby (Deceased)
|
Midlothian, VA
|
$75.00
|
Unearned Fee/Traffic Offenses
|
|
23-555-003416
|
David G. Hoffman
|
Fairfax, VA
|
$21,580.00
|
Unearned Fee/Estate Planning/Administration
|
|
23-555-003426
|
David G. Hoffman
|
Fairfax, VA
|
$19,000.00
|
Unearned Fee/Estate Planning/Administration
|
|
23-555-003447
|
David G. Hoffman
|
Fairfax, VA
|
$17,259.00
|
Unearned Fee/Estate Planning/Administration
|
|
23-555-003417
|
David G. Hoffman
|
Fairfax, VA
|
$14,900.00
|
Unearned Fee/Estate Planning/Administration
|
|
23-555-003445
|
David G. Hoffman
|
Fairfax, VA
|
$7,500.00
|
Unearned Fee/Estate Planning/Administration
|
|
23-555-003442
|
David G. Hoffman
|
Fairfax, VA
|
$7,225.00
|
Unearned Fee/Estate Planning/Administration
|
|
24-555-003463
|
Charles Gregory Phillips
|
Salem, VA
|
$800.00
|
Unearned Fee/Family Law
|
The Clients’ Protection Fund was created by the Supreme Court of Virginia in 1976 to reimburse persons who suffer a quantifiable financial loss because of dishonest conduct by a Virginia lawyer whose law license has been suspended or revoked for disciplinary reasons, or who has died and did not properly maintain client funds. The fund is not taxpayer funded but is supported by Virginia lawyers who pay an annual fee of $5. Payments from the Clients’ Protection Fund are discretionary and are not a matter of right.
If you have any questions, you may contact Vivian R. Byrd, administrator to Clients’ Protection Fund by email or at (804) 775-0572.