Leader of the Year

A public defender whose impact on his community reaches far beyond the clients he represents in court, Timothy S. Coyne was hailed as “Leader of the Year” by the Class of 2017 in Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s “Leaders in the Law” program.

The 30 members of the 2017 class voted for Coyne in a secret ballot process; the honor was announced at the annual “Leaders” celebration, held Oct. 26 in downtown Richmond.

Coyne’s leadership was on display in recent years with his community’s work to establish a drug treatment court docket in the city of Winchester and in Clarke and Frederick Counties.

The treatment program was approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia last year and held its first docket last August. The project now is preparing for its first graduation ceremony.

Coyne said drug abuse has hit hard in the northwest Virginia region, with alarming effects.

“We see more clients die during the pendency of their case,” Coyne said. There are also more cases of children being removed from their parents, he said.

“I became involved in a community effort that subsequently became the Northern Shenandoah Valley Substance Abuse Coalition,” Coyne said.  “We tried to identify different practices that were working in other communities.”

Drug court was one of those recommended practices, the panel decided.

“Tim was a leader in the effort to build the necessary coalition, lobbied the General Assembly when the proposed court was at risk and represented the group before the Drug Court Advisory Committee,” said David Johnson, executive director of the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission, which oversees public defender offices.

Organizers won a $350,000 three-year grant for planning an implementation. Now, Coyne said, there are two participants on track to graduate in coming weeks.

Coyne’s leadership skills are now in demand. He was selected to serve on a work group on prescription drug and heroin abuse as a result of his work on opioid use in the Shenandoah Valley, according to Johnson. He said Coyne was selected to present, along with law enforcement, to the Secretary of Public Safety on collaborative efforts to combat drug abuse.

Coyne said leadership in the law requires motivating and inspiring other professionals about a common goal. “You have to work collaboratively and ensure buy-in from others who often hold far different views and opinions,” Coyne said.

Career marked by public service

Coyne earned his law degree in 1986 from the University of Richmond. His first law job was pro se law clerk for the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, where he handled prisoner habeas corpus petitions and civil rights lawsuits. He then worked as a litigation attorney for the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, prosecuting civil investment fraud cases.

In 1991, Coyne and wife Beth moved to Winchester to open their own private law practice together. He was a part-time assistant public defender for several years. In 2004, Coyne was named public defender for the Winchester office.

He said he learned much about criminal defense work from Winchester attorney Carter B. Foulds.

“He taught me the value of thorough preparation and how to anticipate the various twists and turns of a trial,” Coyne said. “Years later, I hired Carter as an assistant public defender in the Winchester office.” Foulds died in 2013 at age 56.

Public service was already in evidence before Coyne took the reins of the public defenders office. Coyne was elected to the Winchester City Council in 2000 and served two terms, through 2008.

During his time on the council, Coyne said the city grappled with costly school renovations, mental health programs and controversy over a new program to inspect rental properties. Landlords resisted city oversight, he said.

“At the end of the day we worked through it and got a good ordinance.”

Clients often in crises

Among his biggest challenges are capital murder cases, Coyne says. He’s worked on about half a dozen over the years. “The pressure of having someone’s life in your hands is immense, but also creates incredible motivation to perform at the highest level in everything you do,” Coyne said.

Coyne said public defender work remains rewarding. “I think you really make an impact on people’s lives,” he said.

“We get people at their worst and we try to work with them and get the best possible result we can,” Coyne said. If possible, he said, public defenders get clients’ lives “back on track.”