A bill in the General Assembly session to take lawyer discipline away from the Virginia State Bar and move it to a new body, the Virginia Attorney Disciplinary Commission, has failed in committee.

Senate Bill 561, sponsored by Sen. Chapman Petersen, D-Fairfax, was passed by indefinitely on an 11-4 vote yesterday afternoon.

The Virginia Bar Association had joined four other statewide voluntary bar associations (the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys, the Old Dominion Bar Association and the Virginia Women Attorneys Association) in a letter of support to VSB President Jay B. Myerson, who led the effort opposing the bill.

Among the concerns outlined in the letter: Lawyer self-regulation is a longstanding responsibility of the profession and the judicial branch, a model that works in every state.

Also, the proposed commission would have been overseen by the General Assembly. No state has a disciplinary system administered by, and responsible to, its legislature.

As the five bar groups said, “We are concerned that SB561 will severely undermine public confidence in attorneys and the justice system as a whole.”

Jeff Palmore of Reed Smith LLP, the VBA’s legislative counsel, represented the VBA at the Feb. 2 hearing and testified in opposition to the measure.

Keep up to date with 2022 legislation of importance to the VBA at vba.org/2022-legislation.