Disciplinary Board Disciplinary Actions - Virginia State Bar

negative. Respondent, by counsel, also informed the Board that
he was withdrawing his objection to consolidation of these
matters for hearing.
Various proceedings followed which, however, were rendered
moot by the ultimate disposition of this matter. After
consultation, Counsel for the Bar and Counsel for Respondent
advised the Board that the parties had reached an agreement
as to the appropriate disposition of all three matters raised in
the Certification. Respondent and the Bar stipulated and agreed
that, had the hearing proceeded to completion, the evidence
produced would be sufficient to sustain, by clear and convincing
evidence, findings of misconduct as to each violation of a
Disciplinary Rule set forth in the Certification. The allegations
set forth in the Certification were as follows:
VSB Docket No. 99-033-3009
Complainant: Commissioner of Accounts
A. Factual Allegations
1. On or about March 6, 1992, Mr. Van Horn qualified as
executor of the Estate of Rosella Gibbs Groves.
1. Mrs. Rosella Groves’s son Robert George Groves, Jr.
was the only heir to his mother’s estate.
2. Mr. Groves, who resided in Norwich, England, passed
away in 1997; he is survived by his wife Joyce
Groves, who resides in England.
3. On or about September 15, 1994, Richard C. Manson,
Jr., Commissioner of Accounts of the Circuit Court of
the City of Richmond, issued a summons to Mr. Van
Horn for his failure to file an inventory of the estate;
an account of all money and other property he had
received as fiduciary, including vouchers for all disbursements
of monies or personal property; and broker
confirmations of securities the respondent held as
fiduciary, along with a statement or certificate of every
bank in which money was deposited.
4. Mr. Van Horn did not comply with the summons;
therefore, on December 12, 1994, the Commissioner
of Accounts requested the Honorable Randall G.
Johnson to set the matter for hearing on January 17,
1995.
5. A Show Cause Order was issued on December 13,
1994.
6. On or about January 13, 1995, Mr. Van Horn submitted
an Inventory and First Accounting.
7. The Show Cause hearing was continued until March
13, 1995, based upon Mr. Van Horn’s partial compliance
with the statutory requirements.
8. On June 1, 1995, the Commissioner of Accounts wrote
Mr. Van Horn inquiring, among other things, what had
happened to approximately $4,200.00 remaining in
the estate.
9. Mr. Van Horn did not reply to the Commissioner of
Accounts’s letter dated June 1, 1995.
disciplinary actions
10. On July 10, 1995, the Commissioner of Accounts’s
Office left a telephone message with Mr. Van Horn’s
office indicating that a response was needed to the
Commissioner’s letter dated June 1, 1995.
11. On September 20, 1995, the Commissioner of
Accounts issued a summons to Mr. Van Horn for his
failure to provide supporting documentation for the
first accounting he filed for the period March 6, 1992
to February 22, 1994, and to file an accounting for the
period beginning February 23, 1994.
12. On September 22, 1995, Mr. Van Horn wrote the
Commissioner of Accounts but not address the issue
of what had happened to the approximately $4,200.00
remaining in the estate.
13. On November 21, 1995, the Commissioner of
Accounts faxed Mr. Van Horn a copy of his September
22, 1995 letter, indicating that he hoped to resolve all
issues by mid-October, and requesting the respondent
to provide a status report.
14. On February 22, 1996, the Commissioner of Accounts
mailed Mr. Van Horn a copy of a letter from McDaniel
Rucker Insurance Agency, inquiring about the status
of Mrs. Rosella Groves’s estate, and added a handwritten
note: “Pls. Advise me the exact status of these, in
writing, no later than 2/29/96.”
15. Mr. Van Horn did not reply to the Commissioner’s
request. [WITHDRAWN BY THE BAR]
16. On March 8, 1999, the Commissioner of Accounts
again requested Mr. Van Horn to provide final documentation
indicating what final distributions were
made and to provide receipts therefore.
17. After Mr. Van Horn failed to respond fully to the summons
issued on September 20, 1995, the
Commissioner of Accounts caused a Show Cause
Order to be issued by the Circuit Court of the City of
Richmond on or about June 9, 1999.
18. On or about June 21, 1999, the Commissioner of
Accounts reported to the Virginia State Bar, pursuant
to Virginia Code 26-18, that Mr. Van Horn had failed
to make the required settlement within thirty days
after service of the summons issued on September 20,
1995.
19. In a letter to Bar Counsel dated July 16, 1999, Mr. Van
Horn stated that the summons issued in September
1995 had been dismissed after he filed the required
accounting, which was approved. Mr. Van Horn also
acknowledged receiving approximately $4,000.00 “in
satisfaction of my fees for services as Executor and to
the beneficiary for services rendered in his absence,”
and indicated that at the show cause hearing on June
28, 1999, “the Court seemed satisfied with my explanation,
which is basically what I have included in this
response, and continued the matter until July 26, 1999
for receipt of the accounting and final disposition of
the issue.”
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