Lawyer Reprimanded For Mishandling Case Lambarth Held Onto Clients’ Money For 2-1/2 Years

Newport attorney Doug Lambarth is being reprimanded by the Washington State Bar Association for mishandling a debt-collection case.

Lambarth, 54, will be summoned before Bar Association directors for a public rebuke as soon as the reprimand text is completed, said Barrie Althoff, the association’s chief disciplinary officer.

“For any professional, it is a humiliating and very, very serious sanction,” Althoff said.

Lambarth agreed to accept the reprimand without challenge and to pay $750 in attorney fees and administrative costs.

“I sincerely apologize for the problem that arose,” Lambarth said Thursday. “The documents speak for themselves. I’m sorry for what happened.”

He declined to comment further.

According to Lambarth’s agreement with the association, he repeatedly ignored a client’s questions about a payment and held onto the money for 2-1/2 years.

Ted and Linda Miller hired Lambarth in December 1991 to collect money a bankrupt man owed them for some land. Lambarth collected $4,025 in August 1992 and deposited it in a trust account.

He didn’t tell the Millers about the money even though they contacted him shortly after he received it. The Millers called to ask what to do with a $15.65 check they got from the bankruptcy trustee. Lambarth instructed the Millers to give him the check.

When the trustee sent two more checks in October 1992 totaling $390, the Millers kept them and asked Lambarth for a progress report. He sent them a statement that month revealing the money he had collected without their knowledge.

Still in October, the Millers called Lambarth for an explanation and followed up with a letter when he didn’t return their call. They hadn’t heard from him by mid-December, and sent another letter complaining about the lack of response.

The Millers sent a copy of that letter to the Bar Association, and Lambarth called within a week to tell the couple their case had been resolved and he would soon send them an accounting. Almost two months later, though, Lambarth still hadn’t followed through and the Millers sent him another letter.

Finally, in late April 1994, Lambarth sent the Millers their money. He wrote off $800 of his bill to make up for interest the couple could have earned in the 2-1/2 years he kept the cash.

Then, in November 1995, another attorney threatened to sue the Millers because Lambarth had failed to submit a document releasing the deed to the land the Millers sold. At that point, the exasperated couple fired Lambarth.

The state Bar Association said Lambarth violated several rules of professional conduct, but noted some mitigating circumstances. His house burned during the period and he had “significant staff turnover” in his office. Also he expressed remorse, didn’t appear to have a selfish motive and had a clean record.

, DataTimes