Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 3, 1994                   TAG: 9405030165
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MORE AND MORE PEOPLE GETTING ON ATTORNEYS' CASES IN VIRGINIA

Sanctions against lawyers, from private reprimands to disbarments, have doubled in the last five years, and the eight investigators with the Virginia State Bar can't keep up.

The increase isn't solely the result of having more attorneys. Complaints and sanctions are rising faster than the number of lawyers, according to the bar. Last year, there were 2,422 lawyer complaints and 266 sanctions.

``It isn't the brand-new lawyer, generally, who generates a complaint,'' said Michael L. Rigsby, counsel to the State Bar. Most lawyers who prompt complaints have been practicing 10 to 15 years, he said.

Most complaints involve domestic cases, followed by criminal cases and real estate cases. Bankruptcies, collections and estate planning generated the fewest complaints, according to the bar.

Attorneys rarely are disbarred. Only seven lost their licenses last year.

Reprimands, both public and private, are more common. The bar reprimanded 52 lawyers last year.

The most common complaints, about a third of the total, involve general neglect and failure to communicate with clients. But bar President R. Edwin Burnette Jr. has a theory.

``In these economic times, some lawyers are not as profitable as they used to be,'' said Burnette, a Lynchburg attorney. ``Unfortunately what happens is, in an effort to be competitive, lawyers are starting to cut corners. Some lawyers have forgotten the skills of being a patient listener and really relate to their clients the way they need to.''

But Rhetta Moore Daniel, a former bar counsel who now defends lawyers against complaints, believes people are more aware they can make complaints to the bar.

``Some use that for legitimate complaints, and some use it to leverage attorneys for causes that are not legitimate, like to get money,'' Daniel said.

Most complaints are unfounded, and many are disputes over tactics.

``Losing a case is not an ethical violation,'' said Bernard J. DiMuro, an Alexandria attorney who heads the bar's disciplinary board. ``Clients think a dispute over the handling of a case is an ethical case, and it's not.''

To keep up with the rising number of complaints, the bar wants to raise dues for active attorneys from $185 a year to $230. But the General Assembly has frozen bar dues and ordered the bar to trim other programs to focus more on discipline.

A consultant is studying the disciplinary system and will report to the bar in June.

``If we don't get the additional staffing, and if my prediction [of more complaints] comes true, we'll have to find another way to deal with the increasing caseload,'' Rigsby said.