8/23/2018 Virginia State Bar - About the Bar - Annual Reports - 74th Annual Report ABOUT THE BAR 74th Annual Report Virginia State Bar 2011-12 Annual Report for the period July 1, 2011 - June 30, 2012 Administrative / Governing Reports Report of the Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer Virginia State Bar Organizational Chart (PDF document) Report of the Treasurer Report of the Office of Bar Counsel Minutes of the 74th Annual Meeting In Memoriam Reports of the Sections Administrative Law Antitrust, Franchise & Trade Regulation Bankruptcy Law Business Law Construction Law & Public Contracts Corporate Counsel Criminal Law Education of Lawyers in Virginia Environmental Law Family Law General Practice Health Law Intellectual Property Law International Law Litigation Local Government Law Military Law Real Property Taxation Trusts and Estates Reports of the Conferences Conference of Local Bar Associations Diversity Conference http://www.vsb.org/site/about/74th-annual-report 1/2 8/23/2018 Virginia State Bar - About the Bar - Annual Reports - 74th Annual Report Senior Lawyers Conference Young Lawyers Conference Reports of the Standing Committees Budget and Finance Lawyer Discipline Legal Ethics Professionalism Unauthorized Practice of Law Reports of the Special Committees Access to Legal Services Bench-Bar Relations Communications Information Technology Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee Lawyer Malpractice Insurance Lawyer Referral Personal Insurance for Members Resolution of Fee Disputes Seminars Technology and the Practice of Law Reports of the Special Boards The Clients’ Protection Fund Board Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Reports of Joint Committees Virginia ADR Joint Committee Updated: Jul 22, 2013 http://www.vsb.org/site/about/74th-annual-report 2/2 8/23/2018 Virginia State Bar - Report of the Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer Karen A. Gould Membership in the Virginia State Bar grew slowly this year. Total “in good standing” membership increased to 46,314, an increase of 779 or 1.7 percent more than the previous year’s count of 45,535. This is a reduction of last year’s increase of 2.3 percent. 2011-12 2010-11 Active 29,602 28,749 Corporate Counsel Admittees 913 1,264 Corporate Counsel Registrants 455 436 Associate 12,263 12,038 Judicial 1,168 1,140 Retired/Disabled 1,913 1,908 Total 46,314 45,535 As of June 30, 2012, 40,208 VSB members have registered for a Member Login at vsb.org; 2,428 have elected not to be listed in the Virginia Lawyer Directory, a searchable public directory. Bar activities, officers, and council during 2011-12 Karen A. Gould has served as executive director since January 1, 2008. George Warren Shanks of Luray served as president of the bar from June 18, 2011, until June 16, 2012. George focused his term on speaking to local bar associations about the VSB’s regulatory mission, its outreach activities through the Conference of Local Bar Associations and how it handles it finances for the benefit of Virginia’s lawyers. W. David Harless became president of the Virginia State Bar at its annual meeting on June 16, 2012. He was sworn in by Michael W. Smith of Christian & Barton LLP. Sharon D. Nelson, president-elect, was unopposed in the 2011 election for that office to serve during 2012-2013. http://www.vsb.org/site/about/kg-ceo-report-1112 1/6 8/23/2018 Virginia State Bar - Ms. Nelson will serve ex officio on the VSB Executive Committee during 2012-2013 as president-elect. Brian L. Buniva, Tracy A. Giles, Ray W. King, and Kevin E. Martingayle will continue to serve on the executive committee during the 2012-2013 bar year. D. Susie Baker Cox and Doris E. H. Causey were elected by the council as new members of the 2012-13 executive committee, replacing Mr. Shanks and Ms. Nelson. P. George Eliades II and F. Warren Haynie Jr., the new chairs of the Conference of Local Bar Associations and Senior Lawyers Conference, respectively, and Brian R. Charville, the incoming president of the Young Lawyers Conference, complete the 2012-13 roster of the executive committee. The chair-elect of the Diversity Conference, Peter C. Burnett, became its chair at the bar’s Annual Meeting and will represent the Diversity Conference at the council meetings for the 2012-13 fiscal year. Uncontested council elections resulted in the following elections: 4th Circuit I. Lionel Hancock (reelected) 13th Circuit Paula S. Beran Doris H. Causey (reelected) George W. Marget III (reelected) Eric M. Page (reelected) O. Randy Rollins (reelected) 16th Circuit Bruce T. Clark (reelected) 17th Circuit Adam D. Elfenbein (reelected) David A. Oblon (reelected) 18th Circuit Foster B. Friedman Alan S. Anderson (reelected) 19th Circuit William B. Porter Luis A. Perez Melinda L. VanLowe Peter D. Greenspun (reelected) Catherine M. Reese (reelected) Michael E. Robinson (reelected) 21st Circuit Joan Ziglar 23rd Circuit Tracy A. Giles (reelected) 28th Circuit Roy F. Evans Jr. (reelected) 30th Circuit William E. Bradshaw Contested council elections resulted in the following elections with winners denoted by underline: 12th Circuit Graham C. Daniels M. Duncan Minton Jr. 14th Circuit Roger T. Creager Thomas A. Edmonds Daniel L. Rosenthal There was one circuit meeting to elect a council representative. The 8th Circuit met on April 12th to elect its council representative. Patrick McDermott had served two terms and was ineligible to serve another term. Lesa J. Yeatts of Hampton ran unopposed for the position. http://www.vsb.org/site/about/kg-ceo-report-1112 2/6 8/23/2018 Virginia State Bar - The Supreme Court of Virginia reappointed the following council-at-large members for three-year terms that begin July 1, 2012: Darrel Tillar Mason, Manakin Sabot Savalle C. Sims, Silver Spring, MD The Supreme Court of Virginia appointed Lorrie A. Sinclair of Leesburg to an at-large council seat for a three-year term that begins on July 1, 2012: Effective December 22, 2011, the Supreme Court of Virginia appointed Beverly P. Leatherbury of Eastville as a new council member-at-large for the unexpired term of council member-at-large Judge W. Revell Lewis III, the term ending June 30, 2013. The following conference chairs and president will serve on council during the 2012- 2013 bar year: Plato G. Eliades II, Conference of Local Bar Associations F. Warren Haynie Jr., Senior Lawyers Conference Brian R. Charville, Young Lawyers Conference Peter C. Burnett, Diversity Conference In summary, council consists of the three officers, four conference chairs, nine at-large members appointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia, and sixty-five elected members. Membership Director’s Death Diane Balch, long-time Director of Membership for the VSB, died unexpectedly on December 24, 2011. She was a devoted employee of the VSB and will be sorely missed. Gale Cartwright, MCLE Director, accepted the combined position of MCLE Director and Director of Membership, to be henceforth known as Director of Member Compliance. VSB Budget The Supreme Court of Virginia and Council approved the FY2012-2013 budget Additional Resources Dedicated to Discipline Department Seth Guggenheim has made the switch to Senior Assistant Ethics Counsel, but was still finishing up some cases as Senior Assistant Bar Counsel at year end. Scott L. Prince was hired to fill a new position as Assistant Bar Counsel and Anastasia Jones will be replacing Mr. Guggenheim. Enterprise Client Management After undertaking a high level assessment of its operations and record management needs last fiscal year, this year the bar undertook to study and develop a request for proposal to purchase enterprise content records management software. The software was purchased from Open Text. The staff will now proceed to develop an RFP for the implementation phase, evaluate the proposals, and select the vendor by the end of August. The RFP will specify a September 1 start date for the project. To keep the project moving, while we are processing the RFP, we also will conduct the records management study and update the necessary policies, procedures, and schedule. ALPS http://www.vsb.org/site/about/kg-ceo-report-1112 3/6 8/23/2018 Virginia State Bar - ALPS Corporation is the holding company for both ALPS RRG and Richmond-based Southern Title, a title-insurance company. Southern Title announced on September 15, 2011, that it would no longer be issuing new title policies. A press release issued by Southern Title indicated that the suspension of operations was necessary as a result of a “substantial recent agent defalcation,” as well as higher than normal claims arising from policies issued by now-cancelled agents in the years between 2005 and 2008. ALPS Corporation purchased Southern Title in July 2009. At its meeting on September 28, 2011, the LMI Committee discussed this issue with ALPS representative Chris Newbold, Executive Vice President. ALPS has assured the VSB that ALPS’s reserves are separate from Southern Title’s reserves and are not at risk as a result of Southern Title’s problems. Southern Title was put into a receivership by the State Corporation Commission on December 20, 2012, after ALPS Corporation refused to put any further funds into the company. The LMI Committee will continue to monitor the situation. In early June 2012, ALPS was notified by A.M. Best that its A- financial strength rating had been confirmed. This good news was counterbalanced by A.M. Best shifting the company outlook from Stable to Negative. Chris Newbold, Executive Vice President, explained that this has been a trend with other similarly situated carriers in the mono- line LPL market, such as Minnesota Lawyers Mutual and the Bar Plan, based on the overall trend in the lawyers’ professional liability market and last year’s operating performance. The Committee will be keeping a close eye on this development and watching the trends that concerned A.M.