On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the Sixth District Subcommittee of the Virginia State Bar ruled on the Agreed Disposition entered into, by and between Fredericksburg attorney Timothy Williams Barbrow and the Virginia State Bar filed before the Subcommittee, relating to charges for attorney discipline against Barbrow alleging misconduct.
The case, titled In the Matter of Timothy Williams Barbrow, was brought by the Virginia State Bar. Case #22-060-124899.
The complaint relates to the Respondent’s failure to safe keep the funds paid by his client, herein complainant Lucia Arias, early in 2019 for filing bankruptcy. Thereafter, Arias’s file was put away and forgotten about by the Respondent. Arias called the Respondent and left voicemails at least six times between July and September 2019. She filed a bar complaint approximately three years after retaining the Respondent. Respondent issued a full refund to Arias after receiving the bar complaint and acknowledged that he did not handle Arias’s matter appropriately.
The State Bar cited Barbrow’s violation of Rule 1.4(a) and 1.15(a) Rules of Professional Conduct, which provide:
A lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.
All funds received or held by a lawyer or law firm on behalf of a client or a third party, or held by a lawyer as a fiduciary, other than reimbursement of advances for costs and expenses shall be deposited in one or more identifiable trust accounts; all other property held on behalf of a client should be placed in a safe deposit box or other place of safekeeping as soon as practicable.
Accordingly, the State Bar through Senior Assistant Bar Counsel and Respondent tendered to a subcommittee of the Sixth District Committee for its approval of the agreed disposition.
The Agreed Disposition provided that public reprimand is the appropriate sanction with the following terms:
“For a period of one year following the entry of the Subcommittee Determination approving the agreed Disposition, Respondent hereby agrees to and will submit to unannounced reviews by a Virginia State Bar Investigator of his trust account books, records, and bank records to ensure his compliance with all of the provisions of Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Respondent agrees to and will fully cooperate with the Virginia State Bar investigator in submitting to such reviews and making available bank records, canceled checks, checkbooks, subsidiary ledgers, receipts journals, disbursement journals, evidence of reconciliations, and any and all other documents necessary for the completion of the reviews.”
Consequently, after having received the Agreed Disposition and after a meeting before the Sixth District Subcommittee held on September 23, 2022, the Subcommittee voted to approve the agreed disposition.
Mr. Barbrow earned his Juris Doctor from George Mason University. Barbrow practices in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He has been licensed in Virginia. His info can be found online at Avvo.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
