Title: Rice v. Virginia State Bar

State: virginia

Issuer: Virginia Supreme Court

Document:

VIRGINIA: 
 
 
In the Supreme Court of Virginia held at the Supreme Court 
Building in the City of Richmond on Friday, the 20th day of February, 
2004. 
 
 
Jeffrey Bourke Rice,  
 
 
 
 
 
       Appellant, 
 
  against  
Record No.  031823  
 
 
VSB Docket No.  02-052-0197 
 
Virginia State Bar,  
 
 
 
 
 
       Appellee. 
 
 
 
Upon an appeal of right from an order 
 
entered by the Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board. 
 
 
 
Upon consideration of the record, briefs, and argument by the 
appellant, in proper person, and by counsel for the appellee, the 
Court is of opinion there is error in the order appealed from. 
I.  Rule 1.3(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct 
The record supports the finding of the Virginia State Bar 
Disciplinary Board (“Disciplinary Board”) that Jeffery Bourke Rice 
(“Rice”) violated Rule 1.3(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct 
(“[a] lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness in 
representing a client.”) 
 
On February 8, 2001, Curtis Lee Thompson (“Thompson”) retained 
Rice as counsel to represent him in seeking a sentence reduction in 
the Circuit Court of Madison County.  Pursuant to Code § 19.2-303, 
the sentence reduction was possible only so long as Thompson remained 
in a local jail.  Thompson had been in jail for over a year and was 
subject to being transferred to the custody of the state Department 
of Corrections at any time, which would foreclose reconsideration of 
his sentence.  Although Rice was aware of these circumstances and 
could have taken action within a matter of a few days, he failed to 
obtain the necessary documentation and to file a motion to reconsider 
 
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with the trial court until March 21, 2001.  Along with the motion, 
Rice filed a praecipe requesting that the matter be placed on the 
trial court’s April 11th motions’ day docket.  Thompson was 
transferred to the custody of the Department of Corrections on March 
22, 2001 and his motion to reconsider was denied when it was heard on 
April 11th. 
 
Upon review of the facts presented, the Court is of the opinion 
that there is no error in the Disciplinary Board’s finding that Rice 
failed to exercise proper diligence as required by Rule 1.3(a). 
II.  Rule 8.1(c) of the Rules of Professional Conduct 
 
The Disciplinary Board’s determination that Rice violated Rule 
8.1(c) of the Rules of Professional Conduct is not supported by the 
Disciplinary Board’s findings of fact. 
 
Following the filing of a complaint against Rice by Thompson, 
the Disciplinary Board sent Rice a copy of Thompson’s complaint.  On 
May 8, 2002, Rice met with a Virginia State Bar investigator.  Rice 
received written notices on August 21 and September 26, 2002 that his 
appearance was required at a November 19, 2002 disciplinary committee 
hearing.  On October 22, 2002, Rice was personally served with a 
summons to appear at the November 19th hearing.  Despite three forms 
of notice, Rice did not appear at the November 19th hearing, 
apparently because he failed to note the date on his calendar. 
 
Rule 8.1(c) provides that a lawyer shall not “fail to respond to 
a lawful demand for information from an admissions or disciplinary 
authority.”  In argument before this Court, Rice suggested that Rule 
8.1(c) is inapplicable to this case because a summons to appear at a 
disciplinary hearing cannot be considered a demand for information.  
 
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He asked the Court to hold that 8.1(c) cannot be used as a basis to 
sanction a lawyer for failure to appear at a disciplinary hearing. 
 
The purpose of Rule 8.1 is to ensure a lawyer’s cooperation in 
maintaining the integrity of the bar.  The rule does not define the 
phrase “demand for information.”  We hold that a hearing before a 
disciplinary committee may be a demand for information and an 
integral part of an investigation of misconduct.  A hearing provides 
the first opportunity for the Bar, in the course of its 
investigation, to obtain testimony under oath from the respondent and 
others.  A summons to appear at a hearing, if it is found that a 
purpose of the hearing is to gather sworn testimony from the 
respondent, may be considered a demand for information. 
 
While Rule 8.1(c) may be violated by failure to appear at a 
hearing before a disciplinary committee or Board, in this case, the 
Disciplinary Board’s findings of fact do not support its conclusion 
that Rice violated the rule.  While the Disciplinary Board found that 
Rice failed to appear, it made no finding that the committee was 
unable to gather information from Rice as a result of Rice’s failure 
to appear.  Therefore, the Disciplinary Board’s determination that 
the Bar proved a violation of Rule 8.1(c) by clear and convincing 
evidence is unsubstantiated.  This charge is dismissed. 
III.  The Sanction 
In its order, the Disciplinary Board suspended Rice’s license to 
practice law for one year.  The sanction was based on Rice’s 
violation of Rule 1.3(a) and Rule 8.1(c).  Because we have dismissed 
the Board’s finding that Rice violated Rule 8.1(c), we will remand 
the matter to the Disciplinary Board to reconsider the sanction to 
 
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determine whether the one-year suspension is merited for Rice’s 
violation of Rule 1.3(a) alone. 
 
Accordingly, the order of the Disciplinary Board, dated May 5, 
2003, is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for 
reconsideration of the sanction for Rice’s violation of Rule 1.3(a). 
 
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This order shall be certified to the Virginia State Bar 
Disciplinary Board and shall be published in the Virginia Reports. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A Copy, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Teste: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Patricia H. Krueger, Clerk 
 
 
 
____________________ 
JUSTICE KOONTZ, JUSTICE LEMONS, and SENIOR JUSTICE COMPTON, dissent 
from Sections II and III.