Local attorney slapped with default judgment

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A local attorney who filed a lawsuit against the city of Yakima over the way City Council positions are drawn up has legal problems of his own.

Court records show Tim Schoenrock was hit with a $40,000 default judgment in Yakima County Superior Court last month and failed to appear in court several times for traffic tickets in Yakima and Union Gap, which can trigger arrest warrants.

Schoenrock, 33, was the subject of an unflattering story on a broadcast by KNDO-TV two weeks ago that asserted he failed to follow through on a Sunnyside family's deportation case. His practice has included immigration law.

That case did not end up in court, but court records show Schoenrock defaulted on a malpractice lawsuit earlier this year and was ordered in absentia to pay a judgment of more than $40,000.

In the lawsuit, a woman named Maria Aguilar said she gave Schoenrock an initial retainer fee of $1,500 to research the legal ownership of a piece of property on North First Street in Yakima.

Aguilar complained Schoenrock gave her bad information about the true owner and that she ended up losing even more money due to Schoenrock's negligence.

The total damages came to roughly $38,000, including $2,000 that she says Schoenrock was supposed to place in a trust account but admitted he spent on himself, according to court records. The default judgment included an extra $2,000 for Aguilar in attorneys fees.

Court records also show Shoenrock received numerous traffic citations last year, including third-degree driving with a suspended license, and repeatedly failed to appear in traffic court.

Although Schoenrock's legal problems have been the subject of gossip among local attorneys, a spokeswoman for the Washington State Bar Association says there is no public disciplinary information on the lawyer.

That's not to say there haven't been complaints. Complaints against attorneys do not become public until and unless a bar investigator finds a basis after a preliminary exam and forwards the results to a review committee.

To date there's nothing to report, the spokeswoman said.

As the KNDO story pointed out, Schoenrock's practice appears to be in disarray; his office at the Larson Building is now closed and the phone number has been disconnected.

In January, amid a debate over a district-based ballot proposal then before the City Council, Schoenrock filed a lawsuit seeking to force the council to immediately schedule a special election.

That lawsuit is not related to a different community effort that successfully gathered signatures to put the districting question before voters in August.

Schoenrock was no newcomer to City Hall politics, having sued the City Council in 2009 for violating the state open meetings law in connection with a change in its budgeting process.

The city settled the case for $2,500 without admitting liability or wrongdoing.

After missing a procedural hearing last month, the districting lawsuit appeared to be languishing -- until last Friday.

That's when Schoenrock made headlines again when he sought to expand the districting lawsuit by alleging the City's Council setup violates the federal Voting Rights Act because it effectively keeps Latinos off the council.

Schoenrock asked the court to hold a hearing at 1:30 p.m. today seeking permission from the court to amend the original complaint.

In an interview last Friday at the Yakima Herald-
Republic, Schoenrock vaguely referenced personal and professional problems, and admitted he's not been good at returning calls.

He did not return a text message seeking comment on this story, and calls to his cellphone went to voicemail. The box was full.

* Chris Bristol can be reached at 509-577-7748 or cbristol@yakimaherald.com.