Wednesday, August 27, 2003

Welcome back, Wilson

Yesterday, the Roanoke Times reported here that the Virginia State Bar has recommended the reinstatement of lawyer Doug Wilson, who lost his license after he was convicted in federal court for giving tax advice that somehow crossed the line, in a case where his client testified against Wilson and the client did not, so far as I recall, go to jail, at least not for the tax problem. Judge Turk was the trial judge, who overturned the conviction but was reversed on appeal, and he wrote to the State Bar in support of Wilson's reinstatement. The article says that the Virginia Supreme Court gets the final word on whether Wilson will be reinstated to the practice of law in Virginia.

The Virginia Supreme Court reinstated Wise County attorney Carl McAfee in somewhat similar circumstances, about the time that I became a practicing lawyer. Mr. McAfee's suspension is mentioned in this article by ethics specialist James McCauley from the Virginia Lawyer Register for May 2003, titled "Feds Draft Lawyers to Fight War on Terrorism: Anti-Money Laundering Laws and the USA Patriot Act."

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