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Dirk Padgett, who has been licensed to practice law since 1990, agreed to the disciplinary measure, which requires him to complete six hours of continuing legal education on the topic of trust accounting.

Padgett is seeking the Republican nomination to run for the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors. A June 17 primary election will decide the GOP nominee for the board鈥檚 Amsterdam district.

In 2023, a woman hired Padgett to represent her in a child custody and visitation matter, for which she agreed to pay a flat fee retainer of $6,000. The fee was non-refundable, a violation of state bar rules.

The woman was unhappy with the outcome of the court hearing and requested her money back, according to an April 22 determination by a state bar subcommittee. In 2024, she filed a complaint with the bar.

Padgett responded by saying he did not refund the woman because he took the case on a flat fee basis and considered the fee earned upon receipt, according to the document.

Eventually, he agreed to pay the woman $3,000 in a settlement after she sued him in 色多多 General District Court. The settlement called for the woman to drop both her lawsuit and the bar complaint.

Padgett committed professional misconduct by entering into an agreement with a client that limited their right to pursue a bar complaint, the subcommittee found. He was also disciplined for charging a non-refundable fee and for other accounting shortcomings.

In a statement, Padgett said he should have used the words 鈥渇ixed fee鈥� instead of non-refundable. He also said he was unaware of a change last year in bar rules that prohibit attorneys from settling disputes that involve a disciplinary complaint.

He called his actions an 鈥渉onest mistake,鈥� and blamed political opponents for spreading word about the bar鈥檚 action.

鈥淭hey know my reputation as an aggressive attorney who will not be intimidated and will call out the wasteful spending, extravagant salaries, overdevelopment, and high taxes鈥� in Botetourt County, he said.