Ex-lawyer gets 3 years in theft and UPL case; judge blasts 'disingenuous' child-support excuse
A disbarred New Jersey lawyer was sentenced Friday to three years in prison after pleading guilty earlier to theft, unauthorized practice of law while his license was suspended and writing bad checks.
Neil Lawence Gross, 47, said at his sentencing in the Morristown Superior Court case that he had not personally benefited from the crime, but Judge Stephen Taylor did not find that argument persuasive, the Daily Record reports.
“I personally have not gained from anything I have done,” Gross told Taylor, contending that everything he does is for his daughters.
Taylor then asked how much Gross, who is divorced, pays in child support. The answer: $2,000 a month, the newspaper recounts.
“That still leaves close to $100,000 in extra funds,” Taylor responded. “You want to address that in any more detail?”
After a pause, Gross didn’t directly explain how he had spent the money but said he had worked for an environmental company following his disbarment, then recently went to work at his own environmental firm.
He stole more than $123,000 from a female client’s estate by writing checks to himself from an attorney trust account, the article says. Unable to make restitution prior to sentencing, he will be required to do so after he is released, likely after serving less than a year of his prison term.
A former partner in a Flanders law firm, Gross didn’t intend to hurt anyone but committed crimes when his finances “got out of control,” said defense attorney Michael Fletcher. “I don’t think anyone feels worse than he does.”
Taylor later called the child-support excuse offered by Gross “disingenuous,” the Daily Record reports.
