Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994 TAG: 9407140045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-14 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Long
They enjoy the two-block jaunt from home to Sawyers' law office. Sawyers has practiced law for 24 years, 12 of them in this small Pulaski County town.
For the last year and a half, Benny, a friendly 3-year-old golden retriever, has never let his master out of his sight.
"Benny stays with me 24 hours a day," said the successful Dublin attorney. "He has to touch me or see me all the time."
The dog was trained for six months to perform various tasks for Sawyers, who specializes in bankruptcy, domestic and personal injury cases.
Benny specializes in public relations.
Even though it doesn't bother the 47-year-old Sawyers to talk about his disability - he was paralyzed by polio at age 4 - Benny has made it easier for people to approach him.
"[Benny's] sort of become Wayne's trademark," said William Thomas Jr., a judge in the 27th District. "Wayne's rightfully proud of Benny, and if Benny could talk, I'm sure he'd be proud of Wayne."
Sawyers has a knack for putting strangers at ease, whether they're blue-collar workers or corporation presidents. He says Benny has made his job even easier.
"He has a very calming influence on people," Sawyers said. "We deal in very tense situations sometimes, but it's hard to be mad at a golden retriever. I've had people who come to see me just to see Benny."
There are other reasons, of course, that people come to see Sawyers, a kindly lawyer who seems to have a special understanding of the lives and problems of Southwest Virginians.
"Wayne is one of the best lawyers working in our area," said Ed Turner, a General District Court judge.
The Virginia Bar Association presented Sawyers with its Tradition of Excellence Award on June 18. The award recognizes individuals whose practice of law, life and community activities are of the highest caliber.
Sawyers' secretary, Linda Craig, nominated him for the award, citing his dedication to his clients regardless of whether he gets paid.
He appreciates the compliment, but doesn't think he deserves it. He says other lawyers do the same amount of work he does, but his colleagues disagree.
"He's probably more responsible than most attorneys in representing pro bono clients," Turner said.
"Even when he is not being paid a large fee or any fee, his devotion to those cases is just as intense as the cases for which he is receiving a retainer," Craig said.
Devotion is a characteristic Sawyers learned early, when his family helped him recover from polio that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He has limited use of his right arm and right hand. For months, Sawyers couldn't hold his head up. He couldn't sit up for long periods of time until he was 16.
Education proved to be a struggle in his native Smyth County. The school system didn't offer a special education program. Because he couldn't go to the teachers, they came to his home.
His first- and second-grade teachers were convinced he could not learn, and advised his third-grade teacher, Margaret Buchanan, to do what she could for him.
Buchanan didn't accept this assessment. She discovered that Sawyers couldn't read because he couldn't lift his head up enough to see the books. The teacher had Sawyers' father build an easel that allowed him to angle the books at the proper level.
With that roadblock behind him, his academic career took off. He graduated from Marion High School in 1965. From there, he went on to Marion College for two years and then transferred to Emory & Henry College, where he graduated in 1969.
He received a law degree from the College of William and Mary in 1972.
But college wasn't without its inconveniences. Four of Sawyers' friends used to carry him and his wheelchair up three flights of stairs for lectures at Emory & Henry.
Sawyers said access is better now because of the 1972 Rehabilitation Act, and he often just makes the best of it in buildings that still don't accommodate his wheelchair.
Some courthouses don't have elevators, so Sawyers can't make it to courtrooms on upper floors. As a result, many of his cases have been heard in judges' chambers or borrowed offices. But he doesn't mind: His clients actually prefer the privacy.
Sawyers' clients also benefit from the twofold defense strategy sometimes used by the attorney and his dog.
"They double-team me all the time," said Stephen Plott, an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Pulaski.
On one occasion, Benny licked Plott's hands underneath the table while Sawyers tried to cut a deal with him.
"It might have worked a little bit," Plott said with a chuckle.
Outside of the hectic office - Craig says Sawyers rarely turns away anyone asking to see a lawyer - Sawyers serves on the board of directors for the Salvation Army and is an active member of the Democratic Party.
He also serves as a substitute judge and would someday like to have a full-time judicial post. He's had only a few problems gaining access for Benny as he makes his rounds - to grocery stores, restaurants and other public places. He carries a copy of the state law that allows service dogs to accompany their owners.
Benny has attended funerals and weddings, including Sawyers' daughter's wedding, decked out in his own black tie.
Benny's good behavior continues in the courtroom as well. Jurors often want to meet Benny once a trial ends.
"I've had him in two-day jury trials and I've never had a problem with him," Sawyers said. "Benny's the only golden retriever to appear before the Virginia Supreme Court, as far as I know."
"The dog is a gentleman," Turner said.
There's no doubt Benny minds his manners, but he also knows how to bask in the spotlight.
"It's like going to the mall with Madonna," Sawyers said. "People know Benny's name and not mine."
The dog responds to 45 commands.
Benny can pick up papers and keys off the floor, push elevator buttons, answer the telephone, fetch remote controls and newspapers and pull a regular wheelchair.
"You can teach him a task, and he never forgets it," Sawyers said. But even Benny doesn't obey every command.
"Wayne's sicced Benny on a few lawyers, but there are some things a dog won't put in his mouth," said David Skewes, president of the Pulaski County Bar Association.
The dog also shies away from chasing after the turkeys, deer and groundhogs that Sawyers hunts.
Sawyers takes great pleasure in hunting, a pastime he's enjoyed since childhood. He started the Disabled Sportsmen of America in the 1980s, although it is now defunct.
"He's one of the best shots I've ever seen," said Benny Wirt, Sawyers' friend and hunting companion. "It's amazing what he can do with a gun."
Sawyers shoots from his van, using a special gun rest that fits over his window. He's also hunted in Wyoming, where he killed a 750-pound elk, whose head is mounted in his law office.
Benny doesn't share Sawyers' passion for the outdoors, even though he's from a kennel known nationally for producing sporting dogs.
"Benny's a pacifist," Sawyers said with a laugh.
Wirt, who hunts with Sawyers on a regular basis, really admires his friend.
"I've never heard him say anything negative like 'Why me?''' Wirt said. He said he often forgets that Sawyers is disabled; he's just like any other hunter.
Sawyers shrugs off the compliment.
"I was blessed. My dad just didn't know what giving up was about. He was determined that I would be able to support myself and be educated."
His father wouldn't be disappointed.
by CNB