Death of beloved ‘Matlock’ attorney leaves Tri-Cities legal community saddened

A longtime defense attorney who treated everyone the same — from his clients and court staff to prosecutors and judges — has died at age 76.

Larry C. Stephenson was considered by many to be the upper echelon of Tri-Cities lawyers in the 1980s and 90s.

“He was one of the best attorneys the Tri-Cities ever had,” fellow attorney Kevin Holt told the Tri-City Herald. “He could talk the fleece off of a sheep.”

Stephenson died Saturday in Kennewick. A native of Portland, he had lived with his family in the community for 50 years.

Stephenson was admitted to the Washington state bar in November 1975 and practiced up until his voluntary resignation several years ago following an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

He started his career as the go-to guy for labor unions, but broadened his practice to cover criminal, civil and family law. His office was in Kennewick with Jim Egan and John Matheson.

Holt said he was practicing in Adams County in 1989 when Stephenson represented an Othello school teacher.

Stephenson walked in wearing a leather coat and “just kind of awed the courtroom,” said Holt. “They were telling me, ‘Mr. Holt, take note. That’s one of the best attorneys in Washington.’”

Holt recalls deliberately getting on his first homicide trial just so he could learn a few things from Stephenson, who was the attorney of record. However, Stephenson had to remove himself from the case because of a conflict.

“I’d say he was extremely easy to talk to. He had, I hate to use the word, but he had a Matlock presence in front of the jury,” he said, referring to the old TV show. “... You trusted him, you talked to him and you believed him.”

Holt also described his late colleague as having a great sense of humor and always a story to tell.

Connecting with juries

Benton County Prosecutor Andy Miller had a similar memory of Stephenson and his “phenomenal” ability to connect with the jury.

“He was very personable. He talked common sense,” said Miller.

“We tried one case against Larry and Jim, and I told people they were just a formidable duo because Jim’s strength was he really prepared and was a legal scholar and Larry was the nice guy who connected with the jury,” he added. “They both complemented each other so well.”

The longtime prosecutor said Stephenson used to be one of the most prestigious criminal defense attorneys, “He was probably considered the top or one of the top two or three.”

And even while the attorney was trying to get his clients acquitted, the law enforcement officers who’d worked hard investigating those cases still respected him because they knew Stephenson did the same of them, Miller said.

After coming to Benton County in 1980, Miller said he soon became friends with Stephenson because their families with young children socialized together. That, in spite of the fact the two attorneys sat on opposite sides of the courtroom.

Miller said it was surprising that in recent years — while he, Stephenson and Egan still could be in some contentious trials together — the three of them would end up at the same hot yoga class at the end of the day.

Mueller’s Tri-Cities Funeral Home is handling his arrangements. Information about a service has not yet been released.

This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 4:59 PM.