§ 8.01-226.1.Civil immunity when participating in Lawyers Helping Lawyers.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 21. Miscellaneous Provisions · Last amended 2003 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-226.1 immunizes anyone from civil liability for good-faith, non-malicious acts taken in investigating, intervening with, counseling, or monitoring a legal professional through Lawyers Helping Lawyers, without extending that immunity to a client’s claim against a licensed attorney.
Full Text of § 8.01-226.1
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Any person shall be immune from civil liability for, or resulting from, any act, decision, omission, communication, finding, opinion or conclusion made or conducted in connection with the investigation, intervention, counseling or monitoring of a lawyer, judge, paralegal, or other member of the legal profession by "Lawyers Helping Lawyers," a Virginia nonprofit, nonstock corporation dedicated to assisting members of the legal profession engaged in substance abuse or suffering from mental illness, if such act, decision, omission, communication, finding, opinion or conclusion is made or conducted in good faith and without malicious intent.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to grant immunity to any claim by a client against a person licensed to practice law.
Plain-English Summary
Lawyers Helping Lawyers is a Virginia nonprofit that assists members of the legal profession — lawyers, judges, paralegals, and others — who are struggling with substance abuse or mental illness. This section protects the people who do that work: anyone is immune from civil liability for any act, decision, omission, communication, finding, opinion, or conclusion connected to investigating, intervening with, counseling, or monitoring a legal professional through the program.
The immunity has a good-faith condition — it applies only where the act or decision was made in good faith and without malicious intent — and a specific carve-out spelled out in the second paragraph: nothing in the section grants immunity against a client’s claim brought against a person licensed to practice law. In other words, the statute protects the mechanics of the peer-assistance program itself, not an attorney’s separate professional obligations to a client.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Lawyers Helping Lawyers?
A Virginia nonprofit, nonstock corporation dedicated to assisting lawyers, judges, paralegals, and other legal professionals who struggle with substance abuse or mental illness, through investigation, intervention, counseling, and monitoring.
Who is protected by § 8.01-226.1?
Anyone involved in the investigation, intervention, counseling, or monitoring of a legal professional through Lawyers Helping Lawyers, for acts, decisions, or communications made in good faith and without malicious intent.
Does this immunity protect a lawyer from a client’s malpractice claim?
No. The statute expressly states it does not grant immunity for a client’s claim against a person licensed to practice law — the program’s peer-assistance immunity does not reach an attorney’s separate duties to clients.
What has to be shown to lose this immunity?
Malicious intent or bad faith in the act, decision, communication, finding, opinion, or conclusion at issue — the immunity applies only to good-faith conduct.
Does the immunity cover only intervention with lawyers, or other legal professionals too?
It covers investigation, intervention, counseling, or monitoring of a lawyer, judge, paralegal, or other member of the legal profession.
Amendment History
1987, c. 527; 1992, c. 534; 2003, c. 571.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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