Duped client of Troy A.Titus gets $50,000 from Virginia State Bar fund

The Virginia State Bar agreed Friday to pay $50,000 to a victim of Troy A. Titus, a former Virginia Beach lawyer whose law license was revoked in 2005 for financial misconduct.

That's the maximum possible payment from the bar's Clients' Protection Fund, which pays people who have suffered financial losses because of dishonest lawyers.

The payment will go to Josephine Bodmer, 84, of Virginia Beach, from whom Titus stole more than $300,000.

In 2001, Bodmer gave Titus $220,000 to invest in a trust account. Titus promised to pay her an annuity of $1,500 a month. For a while, the checks arrived each month, then they started arriving late. Finally, they stopped.

Bodmer never got her money back. She sued Titus in Virginia Beach Circuit Court in 2006.

Last year, a judge ruled there was "clear and convincing evidence" that Titus had "breached his fiduciary duties" to Bodmer. The judge awarded Bodmer $305,581 - the remaining balance in her trust account plus interest. The judge also ordered Titus to pay Bodmer's legal fees of $3,200.

Titus never paid the judgment. He claims to be broke. He has lost several court cases brought against him by former clients and investors.

The State Bar created the Clients' Protection Fund in 1976 for cases just like Bodmer's. It is a remedy of last resort for clients who cannot get reimbursement from other sources, such as an attorney's insurance.

The maximum payment per claim is $50,000. For multiple victims of a single lawyer, the fund will pay up to 10 percent of its total value. The fund currently has $3.4 million.

This is the fund's fourth payment to one of Titus' former clients. The fund previously paid a total of $56,495 to three other clients, including one payment of $50,000 to a woman who was a victim of embezzlement.

One more claim for $50,000 is pending against the fund by a former Titus client. That case is scheduled to be heard in May.

Lawsuits filed in 2006 and 2007 accuse Titus of taking $2 million to $3 million from clients and investors. Several other people say Titus took their money, too, but they did not sue because they said they do not believe they can ever recover their money.

In nearly every case, Titus has not contested the claims against him. Two lawsuits alleging thefts of $300,000 and $180,000 are pending. Those trials are scheduled for March and May.

Titus has not been charged with any crimes. He is being investigated by the FBI.

Marc Davis, (757) 222-5131, marc.davis@pilotonline.com