Lawyer accepts 2-year suspension for relationships with clients

A lawyer who was turned in to the Virginia State Bar by the Virginia Beach commonwealth’s attorney has admitted he tried to cultivate a three-way romantic relationship with two clients, including one in jail.

Scott A. Lehman also used his trust account as a personal checking account and lied about his suspended law license, according to his admissions in an agreed disposition with the VSB.

In a March 12 hearing, Lehman agreed to a two-year suspension with terms that include a three-year probation period with the possibility of disbarment if he violates the rules again.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Colin D. Stolle filed a bar complaint in September 2019 saying Lehman had engaged in inappropriate relationships with two criminal clients. One of the clients told officers at the Virginia Beach jail that she had been having sexually charged conversations with Lehman using the jail’s video visitation system.

Officers retrieved the non-confidential recordings and said they observed Lehman trying to entice his jailed client into having sex with him and another woman who was with him on some of the recordings. Lehman agreed he provided the client with money to spend in the jail.

The VSB tried to subpoena Lehman’s records of his representation of both clients, and the bar suspended his license when he did not produce some of the trust and billing records. The bar discovered Lehman was using his trust account for personal funds.

The bar said lawyers later reported Lehman was still making court appearances in early 2020 despite his administrative suspension in December 2019. Lehman reportedly told an investigator he was appearing in order to withdraw from his cases, but the investigator found cases where Lehman had not withdrawn as counsel.

At the March 12 hearing, Lehman expressed contrition and regret about the violations. He said he had romantic relationships with the two clients before they became clients. He said he had the best interests of the clients in mind despite the personal relationships.

The VSB ethics committee has been considering whether to recommend an ethics rule that would specifically forbid most sexual relations with a client, but the language proposed last year would offer an exception for relationships that predate the lawyer-client relationship.

Nevertheless, Lehman agreed that his conduct violated a rule barring representation if there is a significant risk of conflict with a personal interest of the lawyer.

Lehman, who represented himself in the bar proceeding, also agreed that his statements about his post-suspension appearances involved criminal or deliberately wrongful acts as well as dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. His two-year suspension was effective March 12.

The VSB was represented by Assistant Bar Counsel Christine Corey.