Executive Director’s Message by Karen A. Gould Service in the VSB Disciplinary System T HERE ARE TWO LEVELS of adjudica-tion involving volunteer lawyers in the VSB disciplinary system: the district disciplinary committees and the Disciplinary Board. 1 The purpose of this column is to help you understand the appointment process, if you wish to be appointed to a district commit-tee or the Disciplinary Board. District Committee Appointments Appointment to a district committee can be difficult because so many people apply, particularly in the more popu-lated areas of the state. You must be an active member in good standing of the Virginia State Bar to serve. Virginia’s ten districts are divided into thirty-one judicial circuits. The map following this column shows how the circuits are assigned to the districts. Some district committees have two or three sections in order to adequately cover the disciplinary cases arising in that district. Each fall, the VSB adver-tises in Virginia Lawyer what vacancies will be available on the district com-mittees. The advertisement for vacan-cies coming up on July 1, 2016, also appears after this column. Note that some of the “vacancies” are actually reappointments. A member can serve two three-year terms on a district com-mittee. If a member has faithfully served during his or her first term, then they will be reappointed. Therefore, reappointments are not true vacancies. There may be only one or two true lawyer vacancies on a district commit-tee. Each district committee also has at least two lay members. If a lawyer vacancy exists on the district committee in your jurisdic-tion, i.e., the same jurisdiction as where you live or work, and you wish to apply to serve, please follow the instructions in the advertisement and submit your resume and a letter of interest as indicated. Your efforts in obtaining the posi-tion should not end here, however. The district committee appointments are made by the VSB Council. You need to let the council member(s) who repre-sents your circuit know of your interest in the position. You can identify your council member by going to the VSB council directory at http://www.vsb .org/site/about/council. In perusing that list, you will note that there are numbers beside the council members’ names. These are circuit numbers. Therefore, if you live or work in the 3rd Circuit, your council representative is Nick Renninger from Portsmouth, and you would want to let him know of your interest in the district commit-tee position. Council members are urged to get to know the candidates for the district committee positions, so that they can select the best candidates. Council members are looking for VSB members with sufficient experi-ence to know how to practice law ethi-cally. Volunteers should also have a good reputation in the legal commu-nity. Paragraph 13-4.F sets forth crite-ria rendering candidates ineligible to serve. Another selection criterion is diversification of the district commit-tees, including practice diversity, ethnic diversity, gender diversity, and geo-graphic diversity. Each committee should have a prosecutor and a crimi-nal defense attorney, if possible. A fam-ily law lawyer would be helpful, as well as a real estate lawyer. Because several circuits may com-prise the jurisdiction of a district com-mittee, multiple council members may be involved in the decision-making process, but generally decision-making deference is given to the member where the vacancy is occurring. An effort is made to keep the committee proportionally balanced by the number of attorneys in the predominant geo-graphic areas comprising the district, and reassignment of seats occurs on occasion to reflect that rebalancing. The ballot of district committee appointments and reappointments goes to the council at its June meeting, and the council as a whole approves the slate. Disciplinary Board Appointments By Rule of Court, you must have served on a district committee to be qualified to serve on the Disciplinary Board. 2 Paragraph 13-6.B delineates who is ineligible for appointment. The board consists of sixteen lawyers and four lay members. Each member may serve two three-year terms, and the terms are staggered. Disciplinary Board appointments are made by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The process is started in July to replace outgoing members the fol-lowing July 1, with a request in Virginia Lawyer for interested candidates to submit their resumes and letters of 12 VIRGINIA LAWYER | December 2015 | Vol. 64 www.vsb.org