Kennewick lawyer disbarred and charged with stealing nearly $330,000

The state Supreme Court has disbarred a Kennewick attorney charged with stealing nearly $330,000 from clients instead of paying back taxes and returning refunds.

Christoper Lee Neal’s disbarment took effect Thursday, according to the order signed last week.

The 43-year-old lawyer was suspended from practicing law in Washington after evidence came to light from another client who hired Neal to handle a dispute with the IRS.

However, court records reveal that Neal continued to do business with the Tri-City couple even after his suspension.

A second count of first-degree theft was filed against him in Benton County Superior Court. Both charges include the aggravating circumstance of being a major economic offense.

The new charge alleges he kept nearly $66,000 in tax refunds without turning the money over to a Kennewick businessman.

His trial is set for May.

A competency evaluation by state mental health officials was ordered by the criminal court judge as part of the case. The report filed with the court shows he suffers from an “unspecified depressive disorder” but he can understand and participate in his defense.

Neal has closed his West Grandridge Boulevard office and moved from his Kennewick home, court records said. He told officials he has since done some work as a substitute teacher in Idaho Falls, where his ex-wife and four children live.

He now lives in Selah.

The state bar association noted that Neal had been suffering from a number of medical, health and personal problems for a few years.

While those problems did not cause him to engage in ethical misconduct, they “did impact his ability to deal with ethical issues and recall facts,” bar disciplinary documents said.

He was admitted to practice in Washington in January 2003, according to the state bar association website. He focused his practice on tax law and “IRS controversy.”

One of his theft charges involves a Tri-City couple who owed back taxes. They gave him money to pay the taxes but he pocketed the money instead, according to court records.

And he continued to meet with the couple and accepted more checks for their taxes even after he agreed to a one-year suspension of his law license beginning in March 2016.

IRS officials have confirmed the couple still owe taxes for seven years and that payments never were made, said court documents.

Disciplinary documents from the state bar association show Neal was reprimanded and given two years of probation in summer 2015 for losing another couple’s client file and failing to keep proper records.

The one-year suspension in late 2016 dealt with a Richland doctor who claimed Neal took up to $36,000 from him and never paid the IRS. Eventually, $30,000 was returned.

This story was originally published February 15, 2018 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Kennewick lawyer disbarred and charged with stealing nearly $330,000."