Bar Counsel’s Message by Edward L. Davis Secure E-mail and the Proactive Resolution of Minor Disciplinary Complaints Attorney discipline is a core function of the Virginia State Bar. The bar, however, also has an obligation to educate the public about the Rules of Professional Conduct and to improve the legal profession. If complaints about attorneys involve allegations of minor misconduct and appear subject to quick and effective resolution, the Rules of Court allow the VSB to con-duct informal or abbreviated investi-gations, and to dismiss the complaints if the attorneys and their clients can resolve the matters. 1 The VSB calls this its proactive process. For exam-ple, unhappy clients may complain that their attorney has not provided a recent status update. Others may complain that they have discharged their attorney but cannot obtain the fi le from their attorney. These types of complaints may be resolved through the bar’s proactive process. In the fi scal year that ended June 30, 2016, the VSB received 3,162 complaints of attorney misconduct. Of those, the VSB summarily closed 1,977 because the factual allegations did not affect the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. The bar found that 668 of these complaints set forth allegations of fact that, if true, would have constituted violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, but were appropriate for early resolu-tion. In these cases, rather than seek a formal response from the affected attorneys, the VSB utilized its proac-tive investigation process to resolve the matters between the attorneys and their clients. Ultimately, it dismissed all 668 of these complaints without creating disciplinary records against the affected attorneys. If a complaint is resolved through this process, the Rules of Court require the bar counsel to dismiss it. 2 Rather than send these minor alle-gations of misconduct to the attorneys by regular mail, the VSB is now using secure e-mail to scan and send the materials to attorneys. This process en-ables attorneys to review and respond to the allegations confi dentially with-out receiving the dreaded envelope marked “Personal and Confi dential.” It also more readily enables attorneys to achieve an early resolution of the complaints, as contemplated by the Rules of Court, as attorneys may send their proposed resolutions to the VSB by secure e-mail as well if they wish. 3 Any attorney not wanting to receive complaint materials by secure e-mail may opt out of this process simply by notifying the VSB. In sum, the VSB dismissed more than one in fi ve complaints last year by offering attorneys the opportu-nity to resolve minor misconduct complaints with their clients directly. Secure e-mail allows attorneys to learn of these complaints more quickly and to respond more quickly by secure e-mail. We hope that all attorneys of-fered a chance at resolution by secure e-mail will continue to avail them-selves of this process. It allows the VSB to meet its public protection mission without burdening the attorneys with formal disciplinary procedures, and enables the attorneys to resolve mat-ters more quickly with the VSB and their clients, all at a signifi cant savings to the VSB and its membership. Endnotes: 1 Rules of Court, Part 6, Section IV, Paragraph 13-10.C, 2 Id. “If the Complaint is resolved through this process, Bar Counsel shall then dismiss the Complaint. Such dismissal shall not become a part of the Respondent’s Disciplinary Record.” 3 If not resolved within 90 days, the Rules of Court require the bar counsel to commence a formal preliminary investigation. 12 VIRGINIA LAWYER | April 2017 | Vol. 65 www.vsb.org