State group disbars Liberty Lake attorney
Liberty Lake lawyer Greg Tichy was disbarred in January after the Washington State Bar Association alleged he stole money from clients and practiced law without a license.
A complaint filed by the Washington State Bar Association in June 2008 alleged that Tichy kept $7,000 in settlement money awarded to a client the previous year, kept $40,000 from a mobile home sale he handled for a local couple in 2008, and kept $4,500 in advance payments given to him by a client who hired him to file a lawsuit in 2007 that was never filed.
Tichy repaid the $7,000 after his former client sued him.
The Washington State Bar Association said Tichy either failed to respond to the client complaints or did not appear for depositions or hearings.
In 2007 the bar association filed its own complaint against Tichy for not completing required continuing-education classes; his license to practice law was suspended on March 5, 2008. Documents state that during the same month Tichy contacted Metropolitan Life Insurance Company about a client he was representing and Met Life told Tichy that his license was suspended. The documents also state that Tichy filed a lawsuit on behalf of a client in Spokane County Superior Court on May 15, 2008.
The complaint documents state that Tichy was again notified in June that his license was suspended, but that in September 2008 he spoke to opposing counsel about a motion for the lawsuit he filed in May.
Reached by phone this week, Tichy denied the allegations. “When I learned it was suspended I stopped (practicing),” he said. “I have not practiced for two years.” When asked about the allegations of theft he requested that the newspaper not print anything about his disbarment. “I’m an ant in a small anthill,” he said. “It’s no news, trust me.”
Spokane County District Court records show that Tichy was arrested for resisting arrest and driving under the influence on Oct. 29, 2007. The first charge was later dismissed and the DUI was amended to first-degree negligent driving, a common reduction for first-time offenders.
Tichy was arrested for DUI again in November 2008 and has entered into the DUI deferred prosecution program. If Tichy avoids alcohol, attends counseling and completes several years of probation with no further violations, the DUI charge will be dismissed after five years.