Dog Bite, the thieving member of the Virginia State Bar (1994-2000)

In 1995 a neighbors dog bites girlfriend, the owner was a Medic whose insurance was State Farm.
	After five years and four attorneys the divorce and suit was finished. In May 1995 a neighbors dog bites my girlfriend, the owner was a "medic" he treated the injury, promised to see that it healed and asked that the dog not be reported. Two weeks pass, the injury was getting worse and the "medic" never showed up, the dog was loose again so I took my girlfriend to the ER where they treated the injury. The medic/owner never showed up to treat the injury caused by his dog. The dog was always loose, days after the injury the dog was roaming the neighborhood again. We did not care too much for this neighbor as after the dog bit my girlfriend she claims that he slugged the dog. In the past we had observed his daughters hitting the dog also - possibly a reason that the dog bit my girlfriend. At this time we had enough enemies, we did not need another "crusade". Dog bite resulted in skin grafts and nerve damage. State Farm - The "medic" did notify the insurance company that his dog had bitten my girlfriend. The State Farm Insurance agent admitted that we had a case and Mr. Thomas E. Burks had two tapes of the conversation. Mr. Thomas E. Burks told us that State Farm was telling him that they lost their client and needed another interview. Mr. Thomas E. Burks told us that it was up to us to find State Farm's client. Did State Farm pay this attorney an out of court settlement - or - was State Farm delaying? The Virginia State Bar sent the files, claimed the case was active and dismissed a probono client, its representatives laughed about how they were going to take all of Mr. Burks's assets? It is kind of interesting that the Virginia State Bar seems to support Probono services, Legal Aid - think they would have assigned one for a probono client damaged by one of their members who was caught stealing settlements. How far back did the Bar go, my girlfriends case had started three years prior to the first of the cases that Mr. Burks allegedly stole from. We suspect that we were one of the first that Mr. Burks had stolen from, maybe our anger at State Farm was misplaced. Five years of aggravation and excuses pass, then in June of 2000 our psychiatrist calls telling us to read the Washington Post. Prince William County Medical Board We went to Prince William Hospital for a second opinion on the injury in order to obtain assistance from the Medical Board. In order to ensure that my girlfriend did not get treatment they x-rayed her left ankle rather than the injured area, higher up on the leg. When it was brought up to the technician he was perplexed also but had to follow the instructions. In a 2010 discussion about my girlfriends past experience with Prince William Hospital I brought up that I had taken my girlfriend to the hospital to have her leg x-rayed and this other poster identified that an x-ray would not show nerve damage. Not only did this hospital fail to x-ray the injured area, they failed to execute the correct tests.

In 1995 a neighbors dog bites girlfriend, the owner was a Medic whose insurance was State Farm.

After five years and four attorneys the divorce and suit was finished. In May 1995 a neighbors dog bites my girlfriend, the owner was a "medic" he treated the injury, promised to see that it healed and asked that the dog not be reported. Two weeks pass, the injury was getting worse and the "medic" never showed up, the dog was loose again so I took my girlfriend to the ER where they treated the injury.

The medic/owner never showed up to treat the injury caused by his dog.
The dog was always loose, days after the injury the dog was roaming the neighborhood again.
We did not care too much for this neighbor as after the dog bit my girlfriend she claims that he slugged the dog. In the past we had observed his daughters hitting the dog also - possibly a reason that the dog bit my girlfriend. At this time we had enough enemies, we did not need another "crusade".
Dog bite resulted in skin grafts and nerve damage.

State Farm - The "medic" did notify the insurance company that his dog had bitten my girlfriend.

The State Farm Insurance agent admitted that we had a case and Mr. Thomas E. Burks had two tapes of the conversation.
Mr. Thomas E. Burks told us that State Farm was telling him that they lost their client and needed another interview.
Mr. Thomas E. Burks told us that it was up to us to find State Farm's client.
Did State Farm pay this attorney an out of court settlement - or - was State Farm delaying?
The Virginia State Bar sent the files, claimed the case was active and dismissed a probono client, its representatives laughed about how they were going to take all of Mr. Burks's assets?
It is kind of interesting that the Virginia State Bar seems to support Probono services, Legal Aid - think they would have assigned one for a probono client damaged by one of their members who was caught stealing settlements.
How far back did the Bar go, my girlfriends case had started three years prior to the first of the cases that Mr. Burks allegedly stole from.
We suspect that we were one of the first that Mr. Burks had stolen from, maybe our anger at State Farm was misplaced.
Five years of aggravation and excuses pass, then in June of 2000 our psychiatrist calls telling us to read the Washington Post.

Prince William County Medical Board

We went to Prince William Hospital for a second opinion on the injury in order to obtain assistance from the Medical Board. In order to ensure that my girlfriend did not get treatment they x-rayed her left ankle rather than the injured area, higher up on the leg. When it was brought up to the technician he was perplexed also but had to follow the instructions.

In a 2010 discussion about my girlfriends past experience with Prince William Hospital I brought up that I had taken my girlfriend to the hospital to have her leg x-rayed and this other poster identified that an x-ray would not show nerve damage. Not only did this hospital fail to x-ray the injured area, they failed to execute the correct tests.

The Dog Bite attorney - Mr. Thomas E. Burks 1995-2000

Mr. Thomas Eugene Burks Esquire, was retained in 1995 by my girlfriend as a probono counsel, this was because in 1994 she was bankrupt after her divorce.

Mr. Burks instructed my girlfriend to see a specialist to identify why her leg continued to collapse after the skin grafts had healed. This specialist was to be paid at settlement time. This attorney seemed to be pro-active and he told us that the excuse the insurance company used for not settling was that their client had moved - they had. That State Farm could not find their client and wanted another interview before settling. This attorney claimed that he intended to file a bench warrant for the "medic". In the year 2000, five years later, the psychiatrist that Ms. Judy A. Dugger had instructed us to see, called us up and pointed out an article in the Washington Post, Big-Spending Lawyer Leaves Clients in Limbo (June 1, 2000).

In 1995 we had asked Mr. Burks to look into the "abuse of process" that Ms. Dugger had started. Mr. Burks instructed us to wait till the injury issue was resolved before addressing that issue, this seemed reasonable at the time. We did not expect that the injury would take five years or that he would leave his clients in limbo. Five more years had passed, my girlfriend was unemployed, bankrupt, injured, owed a specialist for diagnosing/treating the injury and was unrepresented by counsel.

My girlfriend was represented by Mr. Burks for five years (1995-2000). Given the charges by the Bar, we cannot help but wonder if Mr. Burks made the settlement disappear and maintained the illusion of an active case.

We knew that Mr. Burks had a tape where the State Farm representative stated that we had a case, we were in that meeting and have that tape.
---- The rest was what we were told by Mr. Burks the highly recommended member of the Virginia State Bar.
After the tape, Mr. Burks told us that the medic, the owner of the dog, disappeared.
He told us that State Farm would not pay up because they wanted another interview so for five years we waited on the case.

In this Washington Post article it states the following:

Prosecutors and bar officials said that for months, Burks was failing to hand over settlement cash, and the indictments cover three specific instances in which he allegedly misused the money--in October 1998, June 1999 and November 1999. Authorities have not said where the money went, but some officials said it is possible he was using it to fund his lifestyle and to pay off large amounts of debt.

--N.Va. Lawyer Arrested, Accused of Embezzlement By Josh White Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, September 7, 2000; Page B02

My girlfriends case started in 1995, three years prior to this attorney's alleged illegal activities - what was the state of the case ?

Did State Farm pay Mr. Burks in an agreement outside of court and Mr. Burks make it disappear in his "lifestyle" ?
Did the Virginia State Bar use my girlfriends settlement to pay off the other clients ?
The Virginia State Bar "claimed" that the case was active, was it ? or the illusion maintained ?
Just how far back did the Virginia State Bar go ?
How diligent was their research ?
Why didn't the Virginia State Bar assign counsel to one probono client ? The Bar could have then added the cost of this counsel as damages caused by their member, this action would have maintained the "integrity of the profession", 2000 was the year that I discovered that the Bar's ethics were discarded, the year the offense came to light. The Virginia State Bar does have this site for Pro Bono / Access to Legal Services, here one of their links is to Legal Aid well, call them and be put on a list to nowhere - never a response from these "lists".

Given our problems with Virginia attorneys we tried Pre-Paid Legal Service the problems illustrate issues with obtaining competent legal representation in an environment of intentional dysfunction.

Virginia State Bar an agency of the Virginia Supreme Court

Lost ethics...

It was at this time that I noticed the 2000 change in ethical policies. The Virginia State Bar an agency of the Virginia Supreme Court and its dismissal of a probono client's case does not identify a concern for maintaining the integrity of the profession.

In 2000 the Virginia State Bar went after Mr. Burks. The Bar sent my girlfriend her files and dismissed her, this did not help a bankrupt probono client.

Hearing - the laughing attorneys of the Virginia State Bar...

We went to a hearing and attempted to obtain aid in addressing my girlfriends situation from the Bar's attorneys. At the hearing we found ourselves surrounded by five attorneys from the Bar, laughing and joking about how they were going to take everything. They told my girlfriend that they represented clients that paid money - we went home and my girlfriend cried. Mr. Burks left her with doctors debts that were to be paid at settlement time and nothing could be done.

Should have - responsibility....

The Virginia State Bar should have assigned an attorney to address my girlfriends pro-bono case and added the cost to the damages. Such an action would have demonstrated that the institution was pro-active in ensuring the sanctity of the courts, the Public trust, the industry and damage caused by their member. The Bar chose to laugh at a probono client - this case identified to me that the pre-2000 ethical Canon's had been discarded.

The joke that backfired....

It is to be noted that when we found out about the embezzlement I made a joke to my girlfriend stating "hey at least Mr. Burks did not sacrifice her, like Mr. A. Strode Brent". I followed the joke stating that "it was the duty of the Virginia State Bar to ensure the integrity of the profession, so they would resolve the issue". Again the Virginia State Bar made a liar out of me.

This Agency does not ensure the integrity of the service...

David L. Duff, P.C. Legal Malpractice Attorney ?

The five and a half attorney, we went to Mr. Duff to to address the betrayal of Thomas E. Burks as legal malpractice and/or recover the case. Mr. Duff presented excuses to avoid action, too hard, Bar would take everything, the injury case was damaged, too old and laughter about the old "Abuse of Process" issue prior to the dog bite injury.

Here was an attorney that claims to address legal malpractice presented with a case where another attorney was accused of stealing settlements and he offers up excuses as to why this was a bad legal malpractice case with no solution.

Washington Post

Failing all other endeavors I wrote a certified letter to Josh White, the author of the Washington Post articles in an attempt to address our attorney problem through the press, that letter disappeared, didn't even get the delivery slip back. Damaged by a crusading attorney, a medics dog, thieving/failing attorneys, a history of being stalked and vandalism with no solution in sight - through these years I was worried that my brakes would get cut, house burned down and we had no resources. The Washington Post on our attorney....

Dog Bite, Medic, State Farm