Virginia Supreme Court investigating lawyers and judges conducting illegal hearings

 Richmond Lawyer Robert L. Freed and Retired Judge Daniel T. Balfour Caught Illegally Conducting "Kangaroo" Hearings

On August 18, 2023, The Supreme Court of Virginia verified that retired Judge Daniel T. Balfour was not designated in two Richmond Circuit Court cases and had no authority to preside and enter orders. 

Robert Freed and Daniel Balfour have been close personal friends for decades and worked closely together before Balfour was appointed to a judgeship in 2004. Judge Balfour was a presiding judge in Henrico County Circuit Court from 2004-2012 when he retired.

The two cases are CL21-4150 Spanos v. Freed et al., and CL23-2683 Spanos v. Panos et al. which attorney Robert L. Freed is a defendant in both cases.

In Spanos v. Freed, Nickolas Spanos filed an ethics complaint against Robert Freed where he committed extrinsic fraud on the court by defective service and failed to serve Spanos, attempting to obtain a $1,350,000 judgment against Spanos in a defamation suit. Robert Freed knowingly failed to serve Spanos with the Complaint as per the Hague Service Treaty instead, he illegally mailed the court documents by U.S. Postal Service to an address in Greece. Freed and his associate Emily Kokie made false statements to the Richmond Court that Spanos was served despite recognizing that they never followed the mandatory procedures to serve foreign residents.

Freed and Kokie of Freed & Shepherd, P.C, are represented by Julie S. Palmer and Michael Harman of Harman Claytor Corrigan & Wellman, P.C. Julie S. Palmer is currently the President of the Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys.

On February 17, 2022, Freed and retired Judge Daniel Balfour conspired to have retired Judge Balfour illegally preside over the case and enter an order dismissing the Complaint against Freed and Kokie. Retired Judge Balfour was required to be designated by either a Richmond Circuit Court Judge or by the Chief Justice of the SCV to be authorized to preside over any court hearings.

Spanos appealed the decision to the Court of Appeals of Virginia (CAV) Record Number 0706-22 and is currently pending oral arguments to be given. Spanos had filed for sanctions against Freed, Kokie, and their attorneys, Julie Palmer and Michael E. Harman, for fraud on the court and making false statements to the CAV. 

In a recent filing to the CAV, Spanos filed a Motion to Void the February 17, 2022, Order based on extrinsic fraud on the court by Freed and Judge Balfour, who conducted the "kangaroo hearing" without being designated by the Richmond Circuit Court or the Chief Justice of the SCV.

Spanos submitted the Supreme Court's investigation letter as evidence, which stated that no designation order existed for retired Judge Balfour to preside over CL21-4150 Spanos v. Freed et al. and CL23-2683 Spanos v. Panos et al.

Robert L. Freed and Daniel T. Balfour violated Va. Code § 18.2-481. Treason, which usurped the authority of the Supreme Court of Virginia and the Virginia General Assembly and Va Code § 17.1-105. Designation of judges.