A Roanoke lawyer left divorce clients in the lurch when he quietly closed his law office and disappeared, Virginia State Bar documents reveal. Now, the lawyer has agreed to give up his license to practice.
Randall B. Campbell acknowledged Monday in a VSB affidavit he abandoned his law practice and failed to protect his client’s interests. The document gives no reason, and efforts to contact him were unsuccessful.
A certification of misconduct charges identifies seven clients who hired Campbell for their divorce cases, only to be left without legal help when Campbell closed his office, disconnected the telephone and left no forwarding address.
The office closure apparently came in late 2011 or early 2012, based on VSB allegations. Campbell allegedly wrote to one client on Dec. 26, 2011, offering to refund fees because he had a “family emergency.”
Campbell’s law license was administratively suspended a year ago for his ignoring a VSB subpoena. A bar investigator had to “track him down” to interview him, according to the certification document.
Campbell allegedly admitted in the interview he had given up his law practice without notice, had placed clients’ unearned fees in his operating account and did not maintain a trust account.
Source: http://valawyersweekly.com/vlwblog/2013/02/07/lawyer-abandoned-his-practice-clients/
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