Ex-Flanders lawyer who stole must raise $127K in restitution

A now-disbarred lawyer who used to practice in Flanders has one week to raise $127,583 he stole from a client or face a sentence of three years in state prison, a Superior Court judge said Friday.

Neil Lawrence Gross, 47, of Livingston, pleaded guilty in December in state Superior Court, Morristown, to theft, issuing a bad check and practicing law without a license.  Gross was supposed to be sentenced Friday on his plea but defense lawyer Michael Fletcher asked Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor to give Gross one more week to borrow the $127,583 from an out-of-state relative to meet restitution.

Restitution is critical to Gross' case in that Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Rappa has recommended Gross be sentenced to 364 days in the Morris County jail if he repays the money.  If Gross can't repay it, the state is recommending that he be sentenced to three years in state prison, the judge said

"I'd like to see the victims be made whole," Taylor said. "If the defendant goes to state prison, the likelihood of the victims being made whole drops precipitously."

Taylor noted that sentencing previously was postponed for the same reason and said sentencing would occur March 11 -- in one week -- whether or not Gross has managed to raise restitution.

Gross is a former partner in the Flanders-based firm Ward & Gross. He was suspended from practicing law in October of 2012 for failing to cooperate with an investigation by the state Office of Attorney Ethics. Yet he represented six clients between October 2012 and June 2013 for fees even though his license to practice law was suspended.

He ultimately was disbarred on Oct. 21, 2014 for an array of ethical violations.

Last summer, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office received a referral of a theft from the New Jersey Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. Through an investigation by the Prosecutor's Office's Financial Crimes Unit, Gross was found to have used the name of another attorney in a real estate closing that occurred in 2013, while he was suspended.

As part of the closing, Gross held the $127,583 in an attorney trust account but failed to disburse the funds to the seller of the property.  He instead diverted the funds to a personal account, according to his plea.

He also had admitted to passing bad checks in Florham Park in 2014 and pleaded guilty to this offense in December.

   Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.