Chapter 5. McGuireWoods Commits Fraud on the Court Defending themselves from Fraud on the Court

 RVA McGuireWoods Continual Fraud on the Court exposed in Ethics Complaint case

   An ethics complaint against McGuireWoods attorneys Richard Cullen, James Comey, Howard C. Vick, William Birch Douglass III, and William Hutchens has led to more fraud on the court violations by their defense attorney Brandon Santos of McGuireWoods RVA.

   The ethics complaints filed in Henrico County Circuit Court are; CL21005759 Spanos v. Douglass et al., CL21005758 Spanos v. Vick, CL21006572 Spanos v. Vick et al., which alleged several violations of the Virginia Code of Professional Conduct, Federal and Virginia Codes, were heard on January 13, 2023, by Judge Joseph Ellis. 

   On September 19, 2022, Judge Joseph Ellis issued an order clearly stating:

              “Plaintiff lacks standing to seek the relief requested in the Complaint, and this Court has no jurisdiction to grant the relief requested in the Complaint.”

              “It is therefore ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that Defendants' motions are SUSTAINED, and Plaintiff s Complaint is DISMISSED with prejudice. Given this ruling, it is not necessary for the Court to rule on other motions and defenses filed by Defendants to Plaintiff s Complaint.”

              “It is further ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED that this Order is SUSPENDED until further order of this Court.”

    Judge Joseph Ellis’s order clearly states that the court has no jurisdiction in these matters, and it is unnecessary for the court to rule on other motions and defenses filed by Defendants. So then, why would Judge Ellis suspend his order until further order from this court?

   On October 5, 2022, 17 days after Judge Ellis' order, Brandon Santos devised a scheme to file a Motion for Entry of Pre-filing Injunction to have Judge Ellis issue an order prohibiting the Plaintiff from filing further ethics complaints against the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.

   McGuireWoods Brandon Santos violated Judge Ellis's order and had unethically violated the Virginia Supreme Court Rules of Court, as he comingled his Motion for Injunction with the Plaintiff's ethics complaint; Santos’s Motion for Injunction should have been filed separately and before September 19, 2022, hearing date, not after Judge Ellis entered an order. Additionally, Plaintiff should have been served according to Hague Service Convention, as Plaintiff is a resident of Greece.

    The major problem with serving Plaintiff according to the Hague Service Convention, then McGuireWoods Santos would be supporting the Plaintiff's argument in his ethics complaint filed against McGuireWoods William Birch Douglass III and William Hutchins.

   William Birch Douglass III and William Hutchens are accused of committing fraud on the court during their employment with McGuire-Woods law firm. They conspired unethically to have their client illegally removed as trustee & executor of a family trust.

      McGuire-Woods’ partners initiated a lawsuit representing both the plaintiff and the defendant. The McGuire-Woods partners knew the exact location of the trustee in Greece. They communicated with him through conference calls and postal service but did not serve him through the Hague Service Convention; instead served him at his mother’s house, who was the plaintiff.

   Greece's Protocol to the Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters states that foreign service can only be processed through the Greek DOJ and served by only a certified service processor/court official. Furthermore, the documents intended to be served must also be translated into the Greek language and certified by the Greek Department of Foreign Affairs.

   The Trust had no provision for removal, and the petition for removal listed no financial irregularities to justify the petition. 

   The Defendants filed a Defense Pleading on September 27, 2021, in which they did not deny the allegations, only that the statute of limitations had expired for the criminal violations. Yet, there is no statute of limitations for fraud in the court, unethical misconduct, and violation of the Rules of the Virginia Code of Professional Conduct.

   The McGuireWoods partners responded in their defense pleadings that Nickolas Spanos was never a client of McGuireWoods despite evidence showing that Spanos was a client from 1992 and had issued several checks signed by Spanos to McGuireWoods law firm for over seven years. The checks are listed in Estate reports to the Henrico County Commissioner of Accounts.