WOODSTOCK, Va. (WHSV) – Former Shenandoah County Supervisor and Woodstock attorney Brad Pollack has had his law license revoked by the Virginia State Bar Association. On October 25, a three-judge panel found that he had violated the rules of professional conduct. At this time, Pollack can no longer practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

WHSV spoke with Pollack on Monday to get his side of the story.

The misconduct allegations against Pollack stem from his representation of Kathleen Kearney, an elderly woman from Clarke County, beginning in February 2023. The state bar accused him of filing a conservatorship petition in bad faith and making false statements to the Clarke County Circuit Court.

In February 2023, Kearney and a teenage friend acting as her caretaker hired Pollack to help Kearney with a reverse mortgage and collect some money allegedly owed to her brother from a winning lottery ticket.

“We tried to help her and the young woman disappeared. “He went on vacation and left Ms. Kearney in a difficult situation at home, and we tried to take care of him,” Pollack said. “Kathleen signed power of attorney for me when it became obvious that her original friend had abandoned her. I took over some of her affairs, didn’t get very far, didn’t do anything, and the old and I took nothing until the friend came and took possession of Mrs. Kearney’s life again.”

Shenandoah County Circuit Court records in Pollack’s disbarment case show Kearney signed a power of attorney for him on July 6, 2023. Records also show that Kearney revoked Pollack’s power of attorney on July 12, 2023, and a trespass order was filed against Pollack.

Shortly after this, Pollack said, Kearney was placed in a nursing home due to her deteriorating health, Kearney’s friend caused trouble and Kearney’s nursing home was entered without permission, and a social services investigation was launched against the woman.

In the weeks after that, Pollack said a mutual friend of him and Kearney told him that Kearney had been placed in a nursing home and needed help. Pollack also claimed that Kearney called him to ask for help even though he had revoked his power of attorney.

“Because of all this power of attorney wrangling and this woman’s confusion, I petitioned to appoint a guardian ad litem and leave her affairs to the court. This administrator at the Clarke County Department of Social Services wrote back, ‘Great idea,'” Pollack said.

Pollack filed the petition on July 21, 2023. However, he was never served with the petition. Pollack said no one else had been given power of attorney for Kearney, and when the power of attorney was revoked it was revealed that he was suffering from mental problems, which is why he claimed he granted power of attorney to the petition.

“I wasn’t taking advantage of having power of attorney, I was backing out of what I claimed was a legitimate power of attorney and turning it over to the court for the court to decide,” Pollack said. “But somehow the court felt this was a valid revocation even though Ms Kearney had mental problems and a doctor had given evidence last week and I had misrepresented myself to the court. That’s the whole point.”

The State Bar Association said Pollack misrepresented himself to the Clarke County Circuit Court by saying he had power of attorney. Court records show that the bar also noted that the lawyer did not mention the revocation of his power of attorney or the trespass notice against him.

“It doesn’t matter whether I have a valid power of attorney or not. As a result, I turned his care over to the court, and as a result, the Clark County Circuit Court found that my petition was filed in good faith and for his benefit,” Pollack said.

Court documents show the State Bar Association also cited three of Pollack’s allegations. previous license suspensions as grounds for revoking his license. Pollack said this decision would not have been overturned had it not been for his background as a lawyer.

“My history goes back 30 years to trying to help Lonnie Lloyd, a mentally disabled man, and his mentally disabled brother who were defrauded out of their 116-acre farm by Shenandoah Caverns Junction,” Pollack said.

Since that case 30 years ago, many in the Valley’s legal community have been trying to catch him, Pollack said.

“So I don’t think I’m a popular guy in the legal community because of the other little things I’ve been through in the last few years. One of them was money I earned before my business account, which I technically didn’t put into my trust account. This is usually a warning, but for me it was a dismissal. “Later, the last restraining order was made because I believed my client, who said that he had given a briefing but he had not given a briefing himself,” he said.

Pollack said he believes many in the legal community also targeted him for his involvement in conservative politics and his legal battle against Stonewall Jackson High School’s original name change in 2020 and other school name changes.

“I am very unpopular politically and that may have contributed to this effort. “Now I don’t want to ascribe any politics to the actions of the court in any way, but I don’t know where they stand politically to the actions of the bar association and the actions of the people who have a thing for the bar, but this has been a very tough endurance match for me,” Pollack said. That’s what’s gotten me into trouble here in Shenandoah County for thirty years, and now I can’t help people.”

Pollack said the State Bar may reconsider the case in the next few weeks. Otherwise, he has the right to appeal his case to get his law license back.

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