When Doris Causey was given a class assignment in third grade to create a collage about what she wanted to be when she grew up, her creation pictured the grownup her as a lawyer. “I argued and would always have to get my point across,” she says. “As the youngest of six, I learned early to speak up and stand up for what I wanted.”
The 47-year-old Mississippi native wound up doing that and much more. Mrs. Causey, who is the managing attorney for the Richmond office of the Central Virginia Legal Aid Society Inc., has an even greater role in Virginia legal circles. On July 1, she became president of the Virginia State Bar, the agency that regulates the legal profession in Virginia. She is the first African-American and the first legal aid lawyer, to hold that position in the Virginia State Bar’s 79-year history. Her term runs through June 30, 2018. She said conversations about fairness and civil rights were a constant in her household as a child. She grew up in a family of educators. Her mother was the first African-American professor of education at the University of Mississippi, her father taught at a local high school and her grandmother had a master’s in education. And while she says she was groomed to become an educator, doctor or lawyer, her path to becoming an attorney took a detour in the classroom. After earning a master’s in education, she taught high school math. Mathematics, she says, “is my first love. But you know how you have that calling, that feeling that there’s something else for you to do? My calling is law.” As a legal aid attorney, she represents people whose income falls below the poverty line. She handles primarily civil cases — domestic violence protective orders, landlord-tenant disputes, divorces and child custody and support. “There are more than 1 million Virginians who qualify for legal aid assistance,” Ms. Causey says. “Yet there are only approximately 135 lawyers to serve them.” Ms. Causey says she recognizes Virginia’s legal system and the VSB are faced with many challenges, from a low number of African-American women in the field to the need for greater legal resources for low-income people.
Asked what she hopes to accomplish as VSB president, she says, “I don’t have just one objective. I want to increase the diversity of volunteers involved with the VSB and within smaller bars; decrease the access to justice gap; advance the availability of legal services provided to all; and improve the quality of legal services.” Meet this week’s Personality and history maker, Doris Henderson Causey:

Occupation: Managing attorney of the Richmond office, Central Virginia Legal Aid Society Inc.

Date and place of birth: Feb. 21, in Oxford, Miss.

Current residence: Glen Allen.

Alma maters: Bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and political science, University of Mississippi; master’s of education, Tennessee State University; J.D., Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.

Family: Husband, Tracy L. Causey; and three children, Caleb, 15, Jillian, 10, and Joshua, 9.

When elected and length of term: Elected June 2016; term began July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2018.

When Virginia State Bar was founded: The Virginia State Bar was created in 1938 by the General Assembly as an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

Its mission: To regulate the legal profession of Virginia, to advance the availability and quality of legal services provided to the people of Virginia, and to assist in improving the legal profession and the judicial system.

Number of members: 50,369. This includes retired and active judges and all attorneys licensed to practice in Virginia, including active, associate, retired and disabled.

My greatest challenge: Keeping up with my three children and my husband, while maintaining my busy practice, managing the CVLAS office and volunteering as president of the VSB.

My greatest satisfaction: Winning a case for a client who has been a victim of injustice.

With the high cost of legal services, what is the VSB doing to make services more affordable to citizens: The VSB sponsors Virginia.freelegalanswers.org, which offers free legal advice in response to questions posed by individuals meeting certain income criteria. Karl Doss is the VSB Director of Access to Legal Services. The VSB has a special committee on Access to Legal Services, which fosters support for free and reduced fee legal services with the goal of improving access to the legal system for all Virginians and for nonprofit charitable civic groups that serve the public good. Additionally, VSB has a special committee that oversees the Virginia Lawyer Referral Service in order to promote the goals of providing the public access to legal services through an immediate referral to qualified, competent, fully licensed practitioners in their specific area of need; referring citizens to other appropriate resources to assist them with their legal or law-related problems; encouraging the practice of “preventive law” by assisting citizens in solving many potential problems before they become more serious; and generally bringing the public to a better understanding of the law and legal profession.

What does the VSB do to hold accountable attorneys not living up to the ethical standards required: VSB has a disciplinary process that holds attorneys accountable. Individuals can file a complaint with the VSB against a Virginia attorney, which will be analyzed to determine whether an ethical violation has occurred. If a violation has occurred, sanctions range from reprimands to revocation of a law license. Individuals who have suffered a financial loss because of the dishonest conduct of a Virginia lawyer may petition the Client Protection Fund Board to get their money back.

Status of justice in Virginia: Average. We can always do more. Currently, you have a right to an attorney only in criminal cases. One day, we will reach the level of having a right to an attorney in civil cases — foreclosures, bankruptcy, child custody, support, divorce and domestic violence, etc. There are hundreds of civil cases on the dockets throughout Virginia daily where individuals do not have any representation or advice.

No. 1 achievement as lawyer: Winning trials for clients, i.e. stopping foreclosure, being granted two-year protective orders for victims of domestic violence and monetary judgments for clients against landlords. And serving as president of the Virginia State Bar.

Advice to student lawyers: Always volunteer at your local legal aid, do what’s right and stand up for what’s right and find a mentor.

Outlook at start of day: Here she comes to save the day!

A quote that I am inspired by: I live by the “Starfish Rule” — “Helping one person may not change the whole world, but it could change that person’s whole world.” I know I cannot save everyone, but helping just one makes a difference.

Best late-night snack: Anything sweet — ice cream, chocolate, popcorn.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Gardening. I love my vegetables and flowers.

Person who influenced me the most: My mother, Dorothy B. Henderson. She was the best mother ever. She taught me to accept people for who they are and that the Lord always makes a way somehow.

Book that influenced me the most: Algebra I.

Book I’m reading now: “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell.

If I’ve learned anything in life, it is: Life is a journey. Be a willing vessel and enjoy where it takes you because what God has for you is for you.

Next goal: Continue to seek ways to decrease the access to justice gap for all and help establish a right to an attorney in civil cases. Closer goal: To get through this year and become the best immediate past president of the VSB I can be.