Lawyer Ed Neal from Sturbridge Reprimanded for Handling of Account.
Local lawyer Edmond A. Neal III was recently issued a public reprimand by the Supreme Judicial Court’s Board of Bar Overseers in Boston for his handling of an account with money owed to his client’s ex-wife.The board said Mr. Neal signed and filed inaccurate financial statements with the probate court while he was representing his client in contempt complaints his client’s ex-wife had filed.
The board said Mr. Neal failed to perform regular three-way reconciliations on his Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account, through which the client made payments for child support and reconciliation of the couple’s formerly shared home.
Such accounts are part of a Supreme Judicial Court program requiring lawyers to establish interest-bearing accounts for client deposits.
The board, which also ordered Mr. Neal to attend trust account training, said Mr. Neal’s actions broke state law by failing to provide competent representation and interfered with the administration of justice.
The unnamed complainant and Mr. Neal agreed to waive a hearing and requested that the reprimand serve as the resolution, the board said.
Worcester Telegram, October 19, 2011
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