Disciplinary Actions Taken by the
Virginia State Bar

June 22, 1999

Gary Alan Howard, 9255 Lee Avenue, Manassas, VA 20110-5591.

VSB Docket Nos. 97-052-1622, 98-052-0574, and 98-052-2101

Gary Alan Howard petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on June 21, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on June 22, 1999. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

June 22, 1999

Alan Jay Cilman, Suite PH-15, 10560 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22030.

VSB Docket Nos. 94-042-0079 and 94-042-0265

On May 20, 1999, the Virginia Supreme Court dismissed an appeal noted by Alan Jay Cilman. Mr. Cilman had noted an appeal of the decision of the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to suspend his license to practice law for a period of two years for Mr. Cilman’s failure to comply with the terms imposed by the Disciplinary Board in a previous order stemming from two misconduct cases. Mr. Cilman’s appeal was dismissed due to his failure to prosecute the appeal. The suspension of Mr. Cilman’s license to practice law has been in effect since July 29, 1998.

June 11, 1999

William Andrew Kennedy, Executive Plaza, Suite 315, 510 Cumberland Street, Bristol, VA 24201

William Andrew Kennedy petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on June 10, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on June 11, 1999. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Francis Anderson Porter petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on May 26, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on May 26, 1999. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

David Duncan Reynolds petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on May 25, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on May 26, 1999. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

May 17, 1999

Paul Cornelious Bland, P.O. Box 402, Petersburg, VA 23804-0402

VSB Docket No. 97-031-2968

A summary of the Agreed Disposition and Subcommittee Determination (Public Reprimand with Terms) is as follows: Mr. Bland was retained by an heir to represent her interests in pending litigation over the sale of real property owned by an estate. During the course of his representation of the heir, Mr. Bland incorrectly stated in a number of different pleadings that he filed that he was representing other individuals (heirs), as well. In fact, many, if not all, of the other heirs had not retained Mr. Bland, contrary to his representations. In addition, the Commissioner in Chancery, who was appointed to conduct the judicial sale of the estate's real property, subsequently sent Mr. Bland checks which constituted the proceeds from the sale of the estate's real property for seven of the other heirs. The Commissioner asked Mr. Bland to distribute the checks to the seven other heirs. Mr. Bland disregarded the Commissioner's instructions and sent the checks to his client, instead. Mr. Bland's client held onto the checks for months before she finally released the seven checks to one of the other heirs. One of the seven other heirs never did receive her check and the Commissioner ultimately had to arrange for the clerk of the circuit court to stop payment on the old check and issue her a new check. Mr. Bland stipulated that he had violated DR's 6-101(A) and 9-102(B)(4).

May 17, 1999

Paul Cornelious Bland, P.O. Box 402, Petersburg, VA 23804-0402

VSB Docket No. 98-031-2677

A summary of the Agreed Disposition and Subcommittee Determination (Public Reprimand with Terms) is as follows: Mr. Bland neglected to represent a client in a prompt or diligent manner in a partition suit that he had filed on behalf of the client. Moreover, the client had paid Mr. Bland a flat fee of $300 to handle the partition suit. Mr. Bland failed to deposit said flat fee into his trust account and also failed to maintain a trust account subsidiary ledger for the client. Mr. Bland stipulated that he had violated DR’s 6-101(B), 9-102(A)(1) and (2), and 9-103(A)(3).

Alan Jay Cilman's license to practice law was suspended by a three-judge panel of the Circuit Court for Fairfax County for one year to be served consecutively with a two year suspension ordered in another disciplinary matter, which was effective July 29, 1998. The panel found that Mr. Cilman engaged in misconduct by making misrepresentations to his client about the status of the case, by having an improper fee agreement, by improperly terminating his representation and by failing to properly preserve the funds of a client.

April 23, 1999

Marlow Webster Cook, Jr., 2217 Fordham Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22307.

Marlow Webster Cook, Jr. entered into an Agreed disposition on March 6, 1997, with the Virginia State Bar in which he admitted violating DR 1-102(A)(4) and DR 9-102 by failing to turn over client funds to his law firm. The sanction was a 9-month suspension of Mr. Cook’s license to practice law with a term imposed of completing 8 hours of ethics continuing legal education.

The Board today voted to impose the alternative disposition of a 2-year suspension to commence April 23, 1999 on the basis of the respondent’s failure to comply with Rules of the Virginia Supreme Court, Part 6, Section IV, Paragraph 13.K.(1) (notification to clients of an attorney’s suspension or disbarment) and the term imposed by the Agreed Disposition of completing 8 continuing legal education hours in ethics within the original 9-month suspension.

April 23, 1999

Evans Butler Jessee, P.O. Box 1369, Roanoke, Virginia 24004-1369.

Evans Butler Jessee petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on April 22, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on April 23, 1999. Mr. Jessee’s address is P.O. Box 1369, Roanoke, Virginia 24004-1369. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

On March 18, 1999, the Tenth, Section II District Committee held a hearing and found that Donald Edward Earls violated DR 6-101(B) by failing to attend promptly to a matter undertaken for a client and DR 7-102(A)(2) by knowingly advancing a claim that was unwarranted under existing law. The Tenth, Section II District Committee imposed a Public Reprimand on Mr. Earls.

April 20, 1999

On April 2, 1999, upon the recommendation of the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board, the Virginia Supreme Court denied Bruce Charles Britton's petition for reinstatement to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

The Disciplinary Board initially suspended Britton's license to practice law in 1989 for misconduct relating to issues of honesty and integrity. After suspension, Britton continued to practice law because, in his words, "he thought he could get away with it." As a consequence, the Circuit Court of Fairfax County revoked Britton's license in 1991.

The Board entertained the petition for reinstatement filed by Britton at a hearing on May 22, 1998. After hearing evidence and argument, the Board unanimously recommended to the Supreme Court of Virginia that the petition be denied. One character witness called by Britton indicated that Britton advised him, not that Britton's license was revoked due to ethical misconduct, but merely that Britton had allowed his license to lapse.

The record of the hearing before the Disciplinary Board and the Disciplinary Board's recommendation that the petition be denied was submitted to the Virginia Supreme Court for final decision.

April 8, 1999

Bruce Wilson McLaughlin, Post Office Box 6211, Leesburg, Virginia 20178

The Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board has suspended Bruce Wilson McLaughlin's license to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia, effective April 8, 1999. A hearing will be held before the Disciplinary Board on April 23, 1999, to show cause why Mr. McLaughlin's license should not be further suspended or revoked.

The interim suspension is predicated upon an Order of the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, entered on February 8, 1999, upon a jury verdict finding Mr. McLaughlin guilty of criminal misconduct of a sexual nature.

Steven Ray Want's license to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia was revoked effective March 26, 1999, by the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board.

This complaint arose during court proceedings which commenced in 1994 surrounding controversies over the purchase of a Corvette automobile. Want admits not proceeding with the case in a timely fashion. Want does not contest that he misrepresented the status of the case to his client. He further misrepresented there were settlement negotiations and misrepresented that there was a settlement offer from the defendant when, in fact, there had been none. Want used his own funds, tendering them to his client purporting that they were settlement proceeds. The "settlement" checks were altered after the filing of the bar complaint to reflect that they were loan proceeds, a fact adamantly denied by his client. After having urged his client to accept the fictitious offer while suggesting the defendant was going to file a bankruptcy, Want dismissed the client's case. Want thereafter misled Judge Pattisall on the day of trial that the case had been settled.

March 24, 1999

Jay Kenneth Wilk, Post Office Box 428, Woodstock, Virginia 22664.

On November 13, 1998, the Disciplinary Board held a hearing to consider an Agreed Disposition of misconduct charges brought against Jay Kenneth Wilk. The charges arose from Mr. Wilk accepting payment from a third party for legal fees in a criminal proceeding in which Mr. Wilk served as court appointed counsel. By order entered on March 24, 1999, the Disciplinary Board accepted the Agreed Disposition, which imposes a Public Reprimand with Terms. If Mr. Wilk does not comply with the terms, the Agreed Disposition provides an alternate sanction of a three month suspension.

Allen Joseph Gordon, 1553 South Military Highway, P.O. Box 1756, Chesapeake, VA 23327-1756

The Virginia State Bar First District Committee found that Allen Joseph Gordon violated DR 6-101 (C) and (D) in that he failed to adequately communicate with his client and DR 7-102(A)(2) in that he advanced a claim or defense that was unwarranted under existing law. The First District Committee issued a Public Reprimand with Terms.

On February 26, 1999, Daniel Wood Aldredge came before the Disciplinary Board on the Virginia State Bar’s Petition to Show Cause as to why the alternative disposition of an additional one-year suspension incorporated in an August 23, 1996 Order of the Board should not be imposed. The respondent did not show by clear and convincing evidence that he had complied with the terms imposed in the August 23, 1996 Order, so the board imposed the alternative sanction of extending the suspension of his license until July 20, 1999.

February 25, 1999

Stephen Hayden Mims, 767 Madison Road, Suite 115, Culpeper, VA 22071

Stephen Hayden Mims petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on February 24, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on February 25, 1999. Mr. Mims' address is 767 Madison Road, Suite 115, Culpeper, VA 22071. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

February 12, 1999

In the Matter of Walter Franklin Green, IV, Esq., VSB Docket No. 97-070-2583, the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board, on January 28, 1999, found that Mr. Green violated DR 7-105, which provides that a lawyer, in his professional capacity before a tribunal, shall not intentionally violate any established rule of procedure, where such conduct is disruptive of the proceedings. The Board issued a public reprimand as the sanction.

Donald Malcolm Glenn petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on February 5, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on February 8, 1999. Mr. Glenn’s address is 12257 South Anna Drive, Rockville, Virginia 23146. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Donald Brock Matthews petitioned the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board to surrender his license to practice law in Virginia with disciplinary charges pending on January 21, 1999. The board accepted the petition and revoked his license on January 22, 1999. Mr. Matthews’ address is 2301 Hicks Road, Richmond, Virginia 23235-5418. Summaries of the charges will be forwarded to the Virginia Supreme Court.

Dennis Eugene Jones was alleged to have misappropriated clients’ funds for his own use. The Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board found that the evidence supported a finding of a violation of Disciplinary Rule 1-102.(A)(3) , based upon an improper transfer and commingling of client funds with firm funds. No actual loss of client funds occurred. On January 22, 1999, the board imposed a 60-day suspension of Mr. Jones’ license effective January 29, 1999. Mr. Jones’ address is Dennis E. Jones & Assoc., P.C., P.O. Box 1237, Lebanon, VA 24266-1237.

On January 19, 1999, a panel of the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board accepted an Agreed Disposition between the Virginia State Bar and Portsmouth attorney George E. Talbot, Jr. In accordance with the agreement, Mr. Talbot will receive a Public Reprimand with Terms. If Mr. Talbot fails to comply with either of the terms, his license to practice law in Virginia will be suspended for a period of twelve months. In accordance with the stipulations, the Board found that Mr. Talbot repeatedly failed to file estate accountings while serving as executor, in violation of DR 6-101(B), which requires a lawyer to attend promptly to matters undertaken for a client. Mr. Talbot’s address is Suite 408, High and Crawford Streets, P.O. Box 1203, Portsmouth, Virginia 23705-1203.