On Friday, August 16, 2024, the Supreme Court of Washington issued an order imposing a 14-month suspension on attorney Leslie R. Bottimore.
The case is entitled “In the Matter of Leslie R.Bottimore,” with case no. 202209-0.
The order stems from a stipulation agreed to by Bottimore and the Washington State Bar Association that outlined misconduct in client cases. According to the stipulation filed in July 2024, Bottimore was accused of misconduct related to delayed billing, inaccurate billing entries, direct communication with an opposing party, and mishandling of client funds.
The first matter began in February 2020 when Bottimore entered into a retainer agreement with client Kathryn Schiele that required an initial payment of $3,500 but did not deposit the funds into a trust account as required. Bottimore then billed Schiele over ten months later and applied the entire initial retainer, exhausting it without notice to the client.
In another case beginning in October 2019, Bottimore represented client D.R. in a dissolution matter but failed to obtain a final divorce decree for the client before the client passed away in December 2020. The stipulation asserts that Bottimore did not take meaningful action on the case. Bottimore also billed the client 16 months after the representation started and added inaccurate billing entries to the invoice after the client’s death.
The third matter involved client Rodney Vaughn, whose $3,500 retainer was also not deposited in trust. Bottimore then took until July 2021 to provide the first invoice, applying the entire retainer.
In the fourth case from January 2020, Bottimore again failed to deposit a $3,500 retainer into trust from client Paige Ruston. When Ruston terminated representation, Bottimore’s billing contained inaccurate entries.
As a result of the misconduct outlined in the stipulation, Bottimore agreed to a 14-month suspension from practicing law, followed by two years of probation.
The Court signed the order on August 16, suspending Bottimore from the practice of law for 14 months. Bottimore must also comply with the probation terms in the original stipulation.
According to avvo.com, Ms. Bottimore is an estate planning attorney in Tacoma, Washington. She attended the Seattle University School of Law, graduating in 1999. She acquired her law license in Washington in 2000.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
