Complaint Information: (804) 775-0570
You may also visit the Virginia State Bar Web site at www.vsb.org for information about the disciplinary process.

This information will tell you about how the Virginia State Bar deals with complaints about lawyers, and how to make a complaint. 
The Virginia State Bar is genuinely concerned with your complaint. It will receive our full attention and be resolved as quickly as possible. We appreciate your concerns and value your assistance in our regulation and discipline of all lawyers in Virginia. 
Besides the staff of the Virginia State Bar, the disciplinary system involves lawyers and members of the public who volunteer their time to serve the public interest and preserve the integrity of the legal system.
 
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How are lawyers disciplined?
All lawyers who practice law in Virginia must be members of the Virginia State Bar. Lawyers must follow certain ethics rules called the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. The Bar enforces those ethics rules and disciplines lawyers who violate them. 
The Bar receives complaints from the public, judges and other lawyers about conduct that might violate ethics rules. The Office of Bar Counsel reviews all the complaints it receives to determine whether a lawyer may have violated one or more Rules. If a Rule might have been violated, the Bar investigates the situation. 

• If a lawyer is found to have violated an ethics rule, one of the following levels of discipline may be imposed: 
  
• He or she could receive a reprimand, which means the lawyer is told he has broken a rule, and a notation is made on the attorney’s Bar record; or 
  
• the lawyer’s license to practice law could be suspended for up to 5 years, during which time the lawyer cannot practice law; or
  
• the lawyer’s license could be revoked, which means the attorney is disbarred from the practice of law.

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Should you file a complaint?
Charges that a lawyer has acted unethically are serious. A complaint should not be made lightly or to try to gain an advantage in your dealings with a lawyer. Also, filing a Bar complaint should not take the place of communicating with the lawyer to attempt to resolve differences. 
As your problem might be the result of some misunderstanding or breakdown in communication with your lawyer, the problem may be solved by a frank talk. Tell your lawyer why you are dissatisfied, and ask for a full explanation of what is bothering you. 
If you believe that you have made a sincere effort to solve your problem, but you still feel that the lawyer should be disciplined for his or her conduct, you may file a complaint. If the lawyer is found guilty of breaking an ethics rule, the Bar will discipline him or her. However, the disciplinary process will NOT serve to: 

• recover money damages; 
  
• make the lawyer take action you wish him or her to take; 
  
• provide legal advice; 
  
• offer other relief or assistance; or 
  
• substitute for other civil or criminal remedies

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What the complaint process cannot do
The Bar understands that people have many kinds of dealings with lawyers, but not all those situations are subject to review through the Bar’s disciplinary process. Some problems with lawyers will need to be addressed in other ways. For example, the Bar will not open disciplinary cases on: 

• Complaints about a lawyer’s fee. 
  If you cannot resolve a fee dispute with your lawyer, you may request that the dispute be decided by a Circuit Committee on the Resolution of Fee Disputes. These committees were established by the Bar around the Commonwealth to provide a prompt and binding resolution to a dispute over a fee charged or collected. 
  For a referral or a copy of the program rules, contact the Fee Dispute Resolution Coordinator at 804/775-0500, or visit www.vsb.org/feedisputes.html.
  
• Dissatisfaction with the quality of a lawyer’s advice or strategy. 
  This applies to civil and criminal cases. The Virginia State Bar cannot regulate the quality of a lawyer’s advice or strategy, except for certain situations, such as missing deadlines, failing to file required documents or totally abandoning the case. 
  If you feel that your lawyer represented you poorly, your remedy may be to file a civil malpractice action, or, in a criminal case, a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which addresses claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. These cases must be filed in a court of law, not with the Virginia State Bar. The Virginia State Bar cannot advise you on the chance of success of any such cases. 
  
• Rude behavior by an attorney.
  
• Complaints about judges in their judicial capacity. 
  These complaints are handled by the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission at P.O. Box 367, Richmond, Virginia, 23203-0367, telephone 804/786-6636. 
  
• Complaints that lawyers acting as guardians ad litem or Commissioners in Chancery have taken positions with which you disagree. 
  Such complaints should be voiced to the Circuit Court judge that appointed the guardian ad litem or Commissioner in Chancery, as these persons report directly to the court and not to any particular client. 
  
• Allegations that a guilty plea in a criminal case was not voluntary, unless the guilty plea has been overturned by a court. 
  
• Allegations that a prosecutor prosecuted the wrong person or failed to prosecute a case. 
  
• Civil disputes with a lawyer, such as the lawyer’s failure to pay a bill to someone who has provided goods or services directly to the lawyer, unless it appears that the lawyer improperly handled client funds. 
  These matters should be handled through the civil justice system if they cannot be resolved informally with the lawyer.