THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 25, 1994 TAG: 9406250239
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940625 LENGTH: RICHMOND
The Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board unanimously disbarred Stith, a 47-year-old former civil rights leader and perennial political candidate, after an all-day hearing.
{REST} ``Our No. 1 priority is to protect the public,'' board chairman J. Rudy Austin said near the close of the hearing. ``The purpose of the disciplinary system is not to punish lawyers. It is to protect the public.''
Stith's attorney, Roger Gregory of Richmond, pleaded with the board not to strip Stith of his livelihood. Stith has been practicing law for 21 years.
``He made a mistake,'' Gregory said. ``There certainly was no intent, and there's no evidence, that he took any clients' money. . . . You have cases where people stole big money and they're still practicing law.''
But Bar Counsel James M. McCauley said Stith's record with the bar showed ``an egregious pattern of misconduct'' dating to 1979.
Stith's law license had been suspended twice for misconduct. He was suspended from 1987 to 1990 for misappropriating $3,200 from a client's real estate settlement. And he was suspended for one year last October for settling a personal-injury case without the client's authorization. He also has been reprimanded publicly and privately by the bar several times.
His disbarment resulted from several additional charges. They included sloppy record-keeping of clients' trust accounts, commingling his personal funds with those of clients and three cases of failing to file complete and timely appeals for clients.
There was no accusation that he stole clients' money or was dishonest.
``There is no evidence of a dishonest or selfish motive, I'll give him that,'' McCauley said. But, McCauley added, the pattern of Stith's misconduct over many years left the board no choice but to disbar him.
Stith testified for about an hour Friday, admitting all the charges against him, but saying they arose out of ignorance. He was grilled by the board about how he operated his trust account. With each answer, board members expressed astonishment that Stith did not know how a trust account should work, especially after his previous trouble with such accounts.
At the end of his testimony, Stith said, ``I would just like to ask the board if you'll give me another chance. I have tried to practice law as best I can as a sole practitioner.''
Stith said much of his trouble arose because he took on too much work. His attorney asked the board to impose an additional one-year suspension with mandatory education instead of disbarment, which he described as ``capital punishment.''
But one board member, Dennis M. Hottell, responded, ``Maybe the board should do more to educate people like Mr. Stith. . . . But the burden is on the attorney who has been disciplined to straighten himself out.''
Two more charges against Stith are pending at the State Bar. Those cases are scheduled to be be heard in October, but details are not available because of confidentiality rules.
Stith has been prominent in Portsmouth legal and political circles. He is former president of the Portsmouth chapter of the NAACP and one-time leader of the Central Civic Forum in Portsmouth. In addition, his wife, Leah, is a member of the Portsmouth School Board.
Stith sought public office four times and failed each time. In 1981 he ran for the House of Delegates.The City Council was next: Stith ran in 1986. In 1991 he vied for the state Senate.
In 1983 he tried to run for the House of Delegates but couldn't get enough signatures to appear on the Democratic primary ballot.
His professional life has been equally checkered.
Before Friday, his last brush with the bar was a public reprimand in November for failing to file an appeal for a client who had requested one.
{KEYWORDS} DISBARMENT LAWYER
by CNB