and whose breath is pestilence.
Buzzards of Paradi$e
Hawaiians call them lawyers.
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
~ o ~
Shyster lawyers—a set of turkey buzzards whose touch is pollution
and whose breath is pestilence.
– G. G. Foster, New York in Slices, 1849
* * * * *
August 15, 2007
Improving Judicial Accountability in
Hawaii's Highest Court
By Randall Roth, The Hawaii Reporter
This is a summary of Randy Roth’s Comments to AJS Committee on Judicial Independence and Accountability (March 13, 2007)
Something is wrong with the system of judicial accountability when serious questions can be raised about the conduct of a state’s entire Supreme Court without an official body either coming to the defense of those justices or taking steps to hold those justices accountable.
Given the seriousness and specificity of the allegations in the Broken Trust essay and book, one would expect some kind of response. Thus far, the silence has been deafening:
• Commission on Judicial Conduct
• Judicial Selection Commission
• The Judiciary—Rule 19 Judicial Evaluations
• Hawaii State Bar Association
• American Judicature Society—Hawaii Chapter
• AJS Committee on Judicial Independence and Accountability
Nearly 10 years have passed since publication of the Broken Trust essay. Why has none of these organizations done anything? Are they assuming that the allegations have no merit? Or, are they assuming the existence of meritorious explanations for what appears to be unethical behavior? Why assume anything?
Why has “everyone” stuck his, her, or its head in the sand over a matter of such monumental importance? Doesn’t the deafening silence and lack of action indicate to you that something is wrong with the system of judicial accountability in Hawaii?
My goal is not to see anyone embarrassed or treated unfairly. If too much time has passed for there to be individual accountability, so be it. That’s one question.
A completely separate question is the one that has me here today: Did the judicial accountability system work or not work properly in the days, months and years following the publication of the Broken Trust essay? What about over the past year in response to new revelations in the Broken Trust book?
If this body does not attempt to answer such questions, who will? As corny as it sounds: If not you, who? If not now, when?
My perception is that the system did not work. My further perception is that the individuals running the various organizations are in denial.
If this body were serious about its assigned task, step one would be to acknowledge that the judicial accountability system failed in this instance. Step two would be to acknowledge that it failed intentionally. The people and issues involved here are simply too important for the total absence of accountability to have been inadvertent.
How can this body expect to deal with its task responsibly—and credibly—if it does not first acknowledge such obvious facts?
I apologize if my words offend anyone. According to Kate, you invited me here today to tell you what I think you should do. So that’s what I’m doing.
I also have some specific suggestions, but I don’t want to waste your time—or mine— going over them if you are not ready to acknowledge that the system failed miserably in this instance, and that the failure was not inadvertent.
Here are some specific suggestions that I hope the committee will consider along with the suggestions of others:
Analyze what went wrong, and explain it to the public.
Abolish the Judicial Selection Commission.
Although originally touted as a way to de-politicize judicial selection, the JSC simply moved the politics to behind a closed door. Limiting the governor to names on a short list that the JSC develops in secret makes it difficult, if not impossible, to hold anyone accountable for a bad selection decision. Similarly, because judicial evaluations are not made public and the JSC makes all retention decisions in secret, it is virtually impossible to hold the JSC accountable for its retention decisions.
Hawaii should put the process of appointing and re-appointing judges back into the hands of the governor. If the governor wants to appoint a panel to produce a short list of candidates, that would be fine. Either way, the governor should be expected to explain publicly the reasons for each appointment and re-appointment decision. All such decisions should be subject to Senate confirmation.
If the Senate or the public perceives an appointment to be other than merit-based, the governor would not have the excuse of having been limited to someone else’s short list. These proposed changes would increase significantly the current low levels of transparency and accountability, and for that reason alone would tend to increase public confidence in the judiciary (i.e., even if the quality of the judiciary were to remain the same).
Abolish the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
The Commission on Judicial Conduct is supposed to hold accountable the justices who select the members of the Commission, and the Commission operates totally in secret. These attributes do not instill confidence and trust in the judiciary. To the contrary, they promote distrust and cynicism. An independent party who operates more openly could better accomplish the Commission’s work. (See below)
Create an Office of the Inspector General.
This person would be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate. He or she would have investigatory but not enforcement powers, and would render written advisory decisions on matters of alleged or apparent improper behavior by judges. The governor would be expected to address the substance of any such decision when announcing a decision to re-appoint, or not to re-appoint, a judge whose behavior had been considered by the inspector general. In the event of serious misconduct, a judge could, and presumably would, be removed from office by majority vote of the Senate. In addition to taking over the work of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the inspector general could administer the judicial evaluation process. (See below)
Revise the Judicial Evaluation Program.
To increase the level of confidence and trust in the judiciary, a party other than the judiciary should administer the judicial evaluation program. The inspector general could oversee the program and share detailed results with a small committee of judges whose function would be to help individual judges use that feedback as a tool for improvement. Each year the inspector general would provide to the public a bottom-line evaluation of each judge (e.g., satisfactory or unsatisfactory). This bottom-line public evaluation would begin only after an appropriate grace period of at least several years to give a new judge an opportunity to grow into the job.
Of course good people are the most important ingredient in achieving judicial independence and accountability. They will generally find a way to make even a flawed system work reasonably well. Unfortunately, the converse is equally true: bad people will usually find a way to manipulate to some degree even the best of systems. That reality should be kept in mind.
What I have proposed would not be perfect. The important question is whether these changes would be a significant improvement over the current system. As I stated earlier, I believe the current system of judicial accountability is not working.
These proposals would increase significantly the current levels of transparency and accountability in the judiciary. Transparency and accountability are critically important in establishing and maintaining confidence and trust in the system of justice, in my opinion.
Thank you for this opportunity to share these thoughts with you.
Randall Roth is an attorney, professor at the University of Hawaii School of Law, and co-author of "Broken Trust: Greed, Mismanagement & Political Manipulation at America’s Largest Charitable Trust"
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/list.aspx?Now+in+Hawaii
~ ~ ~
From PBS Frontline:
Interview with Charles Chidiac
Charles Chidiac is a financier-developer who knew Gene and Nora Lum in Hawaii. He was also involved in Asian Pacific Advisory Council-Vote, a Los Angeles Democratic fund-raising group once headed by Nora Lum. He has a checkered past. He was an unindicted co-conspirator in the BNL financial scandal....
~ ~ ~
FRONTLINE: Give me an example of corruption in Hawaii in the 1980s.
CHIDIAC: Well, if you want to do business in Hawaii, you go and you apply for a zoning. You get a call from an attorney. And he says, "I want to see you."
"About what?"
"Oh, I want to talk about your application." . . .
"But I already have an attorney."
"It's necessary to see you anyway." So he comes over and he says, "Listen, you applied. This attorney of yours is no good. If you don't hire me, you'll never get your zoning...."
So, that's how they do it. It's called in Hawaii, "law firming," instead of laundering.
FRONTLINE: In other words, bribery?
CHIDIAC: Pure, pure bribery ... under the cover of being legal work...
See also: Renton Nip
Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing - A biggie law-firm with clients like Hawaiian Electric Industries, Kaiser Development Company, Kaiser Aluminum Properties, Kacor Realty, Mokuleia Land Company, Victoria Group Limited, The Prudential Locations, Koko Marina Shopping Center, Market Place at Coconut Plantation, Temple Valley Shopping Center, Hawaii Kai Towne Center (Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate), Sheridan Ing Partners Hawaii, Kaiser Foundation Hospital, The Queens Health Systems, `Oleo: The Corporation for Community Television, Hawaii Conference Foundation, Family Planning Centers of HI, Inc., Aetna Insurance Company, Commercial Union, Fireman’s Fund, Mission Insurance, St. Paul Insurance Company, The Travelers, Otis Elevator Company, Carrier Corporation, Chevron U.S.A, Eaton Corporation, Georgia Pacific, Keene Corporation, Pittsburg Corning Corp., Chicago Title Insurance Co., Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co., First American Long & Melone Title Company, Ltd., Lawyers Title Insurance Corp., Safeco Title Insurance Co., Security Union Title Insurance Co., Stewart Title Guaranty Co., TICOR, Title Insurance Company of Minnesota, and not last nor least, Japanese billionaire businessman Gensiro Kawamoto.
From their website:
Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing has represented a number of clients who have required legal counsel on issues involving Hawaii’s unique land situation. The firm has assisted clients in the complex areas of construction, development, and zoning. In the area of real property, the firm represents some of the largest residential and commercial real estate brokerage firms. The firm’s clients also include several title insurance and escrow companies. Among other issues, the firm has defended title insurers against claims of bad faith.
The firm has represented both corporations and individuals in lease negotiations involving nearly all of the major industrial and commercial developments on Oahu. Because much of the commercial and industrial development in Hawaii is on leased land, questions regarding leases become even more complex. Added to this complexity are such issues as traditional Native Hawaiian gathering rights and disputes to land titles transferred after the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii....
In the area of professional malpractice, the firm represents Kaiser Foundation Hospital and its physicians in Hawaii in medical malpractice litigation. The firm has often been retained by insurance companies to represent their insureds....
The firm’s attorneys have many years of litigation experience involving investment and securities-related claims, including successfully representing clients who were defendants in several RICO and fraud cases...
The firm has assisted a number of foreign corporations doing business here in Hawaii.... In addition, AHFI has attorneys experienced in the area of regulatory law as the firm represents the largest public electric utility company in the state, as well as the largest public access television corporation in the state, among other clients whose businesses interact with various government agencies.
The firm also does work for numerous insurance and financial institutions....
See also: Judith Neustadter Fuqua
For more, GO TO > > > Claims By Harmon; Dirty Money, Dirty Politics & Bishop Estate; The Firing of Evan Dobelle; How to Pluck a Billionaire; The Harmon Arbitration; Paradise Paved; The Vultures of Maunawili Valley
Bishop Estate - An educational trust with a “legal army” of in-house and out-house attorneys.
August 21, 1997
Fired exec questioned
State attorneys interview ex-worker
who alleges irregularities
By Bruce Dunford, Associated Press
A Bishop Estate official who says he was fired last year for raising questions about irregular and possibly illegal activities has been interviewed by state attorneys ordered by the governor to investigate the estate.
Bobby Harmon served for eight years as head of the estate's insurance programs and ultimately served as president of P&C Insurance Co., a for-profit subsidiary of the $10 billion charitable trust that supports Kamehameha Schools.
He said he questioned:
>> An annual payment the estate made without accounting for why it was made;
>> His salary for the profit-making organization being paid by the nonprofit trust in apparent violation of IRS rules;
>> The company's legal work being parceled to certain lawyers.
Harmon met for 1-1/2 hours yesterday with Senior Deputy Attorney General Lawrence Goya and the attorney general's auditor, he said.
They expressed interest in obtaining a 50-page document he prepared detailing questionable and possibly illegal activities by Bishop Estate's trustees and top executives, Harmon said.
Bishop Estate, however, earlier obtained a Circuit Court injunction against the release of the document, claiming it contains confidential and proprietary information that should not be made public.
Harmon has also offered to share his papers with retired Circuit Judge Patrick Yim, who is also conducting an investigation into the management of Bishop Estate and Kamehameha Schools at the request of the probate court.
Harmon said he was fired in November after he refused to sign off on a required financial report involving the estate's contract with Marsh & McLennan Inc. as the estate's insurance broker.
He said was worried about a $200,000 annual flat fee superiors wanted him to pay to MMI because there was no accounting why it was being paid, Harmon said.
Harmon said he felt if he "looked the other way" as encouraged by his superiors, "I would be breaching my fiduciary duties to the organization."
Harmon also questioned why his salary was from the nonprofit trust when almost all his time was spent working for the for-profit P&C captive insurance company.
This appears to violate IRS rules against using tax-exempt trust funds to subsidize a profit-making company, he said.
It appeared that Bishop Estate attorney Nathan Aipa, Harmon's direct supervisor, and trustee Henry Peters wanted to maintain tight control over all insurance matters, including parceling out related legal work to selected attorneys, he said.
Estate spokeswoman Elisa Yadao has declined to comment on Harmon's allegations, but said they will be challenged in court.
Harmon's documents support his proposed settlement for what he claims was his wrongful termination by Bishop Estate. It seeks up to $1.8 million.
The use of trust funds to support Bishop Estate's various taxable subsidiaries was common, yet not reported on IRS forms as required, Harmon said.
* * * * *
August 21, 1997
Keeping lawsuits mum exposes estate, says former Bishop official
The trust is vulnerable to millions in
damage claims and legal fees
By Bruce Dunford, Associated Press
The $10 billion Bishop Estate trust that supports Kamehameha Schools is exposed to hundreds of millions of dollars in damage claims and millions of dollars in legal fees because trustees wanted to keep a lid on embarrassing lawsuits, according to a former executive of the trust.
Failure to disclose details of these lawsuits to insurance companies jeopardized insurance coverage of damage judgments or settlements as well as legal fees in defending against them, said Bobby Harmon, who headed the estate's insurance program until last year.
Harmon, who was fired last November as president of the estate's for-profit captive insurance subsidiary, P&C Insurance Co. Inc., has been talking to state attorneys investigating allegations of irregularities in the management of Bishop Estate by its five trustees.
Gov. Ben Cayetano ordered the probe.
The Bishop Estate won't respond to Harmon's specific allegations but is prepared to challenge them in court, said estate spokeswoman Elisa Yadao.
The estate's 1989 $85 million investment in McKenzie Methane Inc., a Houston-based energy venture in which several trustees and estate executives piggybacked another $3 million of personal investment, resulted in a $2.3 billion lawsuit brought in Texas in 1993 against the trustees, the Bishop Estate and other investors.
The venture went into bankruptcy, whittling Bishop Estate's investment down to some $20 million, according to attorneys in Texas.
The estate, its involved subsidiaries, the trustees and estate officers were entitled to legal defense under United Educators Insurance Co., which carries the estate's legal liability policy, Harmon said.
Despite repeated efforts of the insurance company's claims manager to get details on the lawsuit from Bishop Estate's top attorney, Nathan Aipa, no information was provided and the company closed its files, not paying some $500,000 in legal fees that would have been covered, Harmon said.
It could also foreclose the insurance company paying for a settlement or judgment, he said.
Another $500,000 was spent defending against a $86.7 million lawsuit brought in 1995 by movie producer Frederick Field stemming from his partnership with Bishop Estate in investments dating to 1984, Harmon said.
Actor Wayne Rogers, an investment partner with Bishop Estate and several trustees in Kona Enterprises, filed a lawsuit in North Carolina in 1993 that was not reported to United Educators, which therefore paid no defense costs, Harmon said.
Although a subsequent lawsuit filed in Utah was reported to the insurance company, the company disallowed many of the legal fees due to noncompliance with the policy terms, he said.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra dismissed Rogers' lawsuit last year, but his ruling was reversed on appeal, and the case remains pending.
(Catbird Note: Judge David Ezra was the same judge assigned to the Bobby Harmon vs. Trustees of Bishop Estate RICO lawsuit, after Judge Samuel King excused himself because he had openly criticized the estate.)
Total costs of defending Rogers' lawsuit could have been limited to Bishop Estate's $250,000 self-insured retention, Harmon said.
While the total costs of the defense covered by insurance are not yet known, one Honolulu firm, Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, had billed the estate more than $750,000 as of September of last year, he said.
A lawsuit was brought in March of 1996 by members of the exclusive Robert Trent Jones Golf Club near Washington, D.C., in which Bishop Estate was a development partner and guarantor on a $40 million loan.
Bishop Estate trustee Henry Peters became a director and trustee of the golf club and negotiated the sale of the golf course and adjacent residential property to club members, according to the lawsuit, which has since been settled.
The lawsuit says those buying memberships were not informed that the club was stuck with the $33 million development loan from Bishop Estate.
Harmon said he doesn't know who paid for the legal defense fees in that case or how much they totaled.
Yadao said Harmon was fired last year for work-associated misconduct and therefore was denied unemployment compensation.
Harmon is seeking up to $1.8 million in compensation from Bishop Estate for what he claims was his wrongful termination....
For more on Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, GO TO > > > The Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Report
* * *
August 26,1997
Estate Tries To Muzzle
Fired Exec
It seeks contempt-of-court charges
against Bobby Harmon
By Jim Witty, Star-Bulletin
Bishop Estate is seeking to silence Bobby Harmon again.
The trust has filed an emergency motion in Circuit Court seeking contempt of court charges against the fired Bishop Estate executive for allegedly violating a previous injunction that blocked him from disclosing "confidential" information about his former employer.
Matt Tsukazaki, attorney for the $10 billion charitable trust, asked for a closed hearing "to protect the confidentiality of the information that may be discussed."
This morning, Circuit Court Judge Bambi Weil continued the matter to Sept. 26; Bishop Estate attorneys are scheduled to conduct a deposition with Harmon Sept. 12.
"We're not dealing with the formula of Coca Cola," quipped Harmon's attorney, Roy Hughes. "We're dealing with business documents."
John Goemans, who is representing Harmon in his $1.8 million wrongful-termination suit against Bishop Estate, told Weil: "Anything that Harmon has said has been either a matter of opinion or in aid of law enforcement."
Bishop Estate attorneys contend that Harmon released a confidential and proprietary document that contained "false and defamatory allegations" and disclosed facts concerning his employment with Bishop Estate to "outside third parties."
Harmon, who was fired last year after serving eight years as president and chief executive officer of Bishop Estate subsidiary P&C Insurance Co., has said his questions about irregular and possibly illegal activities led to his ouster. The Attorney General has interviewed Harmon as part of its investigation into the estate's dealings.
"Here's a guy who brought to the attention of his company things that were of benefit to the company," Goemans said. "Instead of being rewarded for his diligence, the whole machinery of the estate came down on him like a ton of bricks, ending his career, to which he'd reached the pinnacle."
Harmon said he questioned an annual payment the estate made without accounting for why it was made, his salary as chief of the for-profit insurance subsidiary being paid by the nonprofit trust in apparent violation of IRS regulations, and the parceling out of legal work to selected lawyers.
Harmon is out of state and did not attend today's hearing.
* * * * *
August 27, 1997
Cayetano:
The estate's confidentiality provision isn't meant to protect the trustees, he says
By Mike Yuen and Jim Witty, Star-Bulletin
Gov. Ben Cayetano says the Bishop Estate cannot use confidentiality agreements to bar employees from cooperating with the state's investigation into whether trustees breached their fiduciary responsibilities.
Cayetano's remarks yesterday came an hour after a hearing in Circuit Court on the estate's emergency motion for a contempt finding against a fired executive for allegedly violating an injunction that prevented him from revealing "confidential" information about his former employer.
The hearing was recessed to Sept. 26.
Bobby Harmon, who was fired last year after working eight years as president and chief executive officer of the estate's for-profit subsidiary, P&C Insurance Co., was questioned last week by state attorneys.
They talked with Harmon after Cayetano ordered Attorney General Margery Bronster to begin an investigation into the the $10 billion charitable trust, the largest private landowner in Hawaii.
Estate attorneys are also alleging that Harmon talked with reporters, leaking sensitive information.
"The confidentiality provision, in my view as an attorney," said Cayetano, "will not hold any weight or water if the information that's coming out is used to demonstrate or prove that there has been in fact a breach of fiduciary duty. You cannot hide information. The confidentiality provision should stand only if it is in fact protecting the trust and the beneficiaries - and not the trustees."
Moreover, the law giving the attorney general subpoena powers outweighs any confidentiality provision an employer may have with employees, Cayetano added.
"I think if it should then happen that people bring a civil action against this employee for damages for breach of contract, the defense is he was required to do so by law," Cayetano said.
Several hours after Cayetano spoke with reporters, Harmon's attorney, John Goemans, filed a writ with the state Supreme Court, challenging Circuit Judge Bambi Weil's jurisdiction to enforce the injunction against his client.
The injunction, Goemans claims, “denies Harmon's established First Amendment right to express his opinion as to the corruption and criminality of the officers and directors of the Bishop Estate in matters of public concern and in aid of law enforcement by the attorney general of the state of Hawaii and others."
Bishop Estate spokeswoman Elisa Yadao said the estate intends to cooperate with the attorney general's investigation, but insisted that the inquiry should not be tied to Harmon's case.
"It is not appropriate to discuss that case. That's separate from the attorney general's inquiry," Yadao said. "He is under injunction from the court because of his unauthorized removal of estate property."
Yadao expressed surprise that state investigators have not yet contacted estate officials, given that two weeks have passed since Cayetano announced Bronster's inquiry.
As a result, estate attorney Nathan Aipa has called Bronster's office, asking how to proceed, said Yadao.
Asked if estate employees and staff at its educational arm, Kamehameha Schools, will be allowed to talk to state investigators without being held to the confidentiality provision, Yadao declined to answer the question directly.
She would only say: "We have a long history of working with court-appointed masters. We've always cooperated fully with the masters. We have a good working relationship with the current master, who has spoken with current employees."
Bronster has said she won't talk to estate trustees or attorneys until she fully sorts out the allegations.
The Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate employee handbook, a copy of which was obtained by the Star-Bulletin, tells employees they must "keep institutional information confidential unless there are good reasons and authorization for its release."
They are also told the release of information pertaining to the estate and the schools is handled through the trust's public relations department, which must also clear any speeches or interviews "which might contain sensitive and/or confidential information."
The employee handbook itself is labeled "CONFIDENTIAL."
Cayetano said that during a talk with Bronster on Monday, there was concern expressed over "the resources" needed for the investigation, given the state's tight fiscal situation.
"What we talked about was using some personnel from the state's Tax Department, for example. Certainly in her investigation she will need to have people with accounting and auditing backgrounds," Cayetano said.
"My inclination," Cayetano said, "is to make the (preliminary) report public, because I think it will become public anyway if we do go to court."
Cayetano stressed that Bronster is focusing on what might appear to be clear violations of fiduciary duties.
Trustees have said the preliminary report should not be released until they can meet with Bronster to respond to allegations.
Cayetano added that while Bronster can subpoena Bishop Estate trustees and even state Supreme Court justices, who appoint the trustees, he believes they will come forward voluntarily.
* * *
September 23, 1997
“No justification”
for trustee pay
— Cayetano
Lowered compensation 'would go a long way'
toward dissipating controversy
By Mike Yuen, Star-Bulletin
If the "enormous compensation" for Bishop Estate trustees is significantly lowered, that would go a long way toward dissipating the months-long controversy that has engulfed the $10 billion charitable trust, says Gov. Ben Cayetano.
Last year, each of the five trustees, who are expected to do the work of chief executive officers, received $843,109. In 1995, it was $938,047.
"There's no justification for their compensation to be as high as it is," Cayetano said yesterday. "The simple reason is this: It's a charitable trust. It receives tax benefits from the state.
"And I think the people of this state are entitled to have some say in the compensation level of the trustees.
"If they were a private trust like the Campbell Estate, they can pay their people anything they want. But they're not a private trust."
Responding to Cayetano, Elisa Yadao, Bishop Estate/Kamehameha Schools spokeswoman, said this morning that the estate is "a private trust established by the will of Princess Pauahi Bishop.
"We are not charity in the conventional sense where we run our operations based on donations. We are self-sustaining, earning all the money to run our operations under the leadership of our trustees."
The trustees' compensation is tied to their performance, she said.
If the matter of trustee compensation is not addressed, Cayetano predicted that questions will resurface regarding breaches of trust responsibilities and the perception that politics permeates the selection of trustees.
Spurred by questions raised in "Broken Trust," an opinion piece authored by five prominent leaders that ran in the Star-Bulletin last month, Cayetano ordered a state investigation into the estate, one of the nation's wealthiest trusts and Hawaii's largest private landowner.
Cayetano yesterday also reiterated that he will propose legislation next year to slash trustee compensation. He also called for House Judiciary Chairman Terrance Tom (D, Kaneohe), an attorney who received $49,200 in legal fees from the estate last year, to recuse himself when the administration's bill or a similar measure goes before Tom's panel.
"We are all going to be held accountable for our actions," Cayetano said. "I think Terry Tom on this particular issue should recuse himself and not be involved in the hearing of the bill because obviously he has a direct conflict."
Tom said he will leave it up to House Speaker Joe Souki (D, Wailuku) and other House leaders to determine whether he should step aside. "I will do whatever is in the best interest of the House. When I wear my legislative hat, I always act in the best interest of the state and not one client as I would do as a lawyer," Tom said.
Several years ago, when a resolution involving Bishop Estate came up, Tom disqualified himself and turned the matter over to his vice chairman, he said....
* * * * *
September 23, 1997
Estate lawyers seek
reporters’ info, notes
They claim confidential information was
disclosed by a fired Bishop exec
By Jim Witty, Star-Bulletin
Attorneys for Bishop Estate have subpoenaed at least three Honolulu reporters they contend received confidential and proprietary information allegedly released by a fired executive of the trust.
Associated Press reporter Bruce Dunford, KITV-4 reporter Jim Dooley and Honolulu Advertiser reporter Sally Apgar were served with subpoenas yesterday that seek documents purportedly released by Bobby Harmon. A deposition was scheduled for this afternoon.
Bishop Estate filed an emergency motion in Circuit Court late last month seeking contempt of court charges against Harmon for allegedly violating a previous injunction that blocked him from releasing "confidential" information about his former employer. He has filed a $1.8 million wrongful-termination suit against Bishop Estate.
Harmon, who was fired last year after eight years as president and chief executive officer of Bishop Estate subsidiary P & C Insurance Co., has alleged in the media that his questions about irregular activities led to his ouster.
KITV News Director Wally Zimmerman said the station is consulting its attorneys but added, "My first inclination is that we ask that the only thing that we provide is what we broadcast" and not notes or outtakes. The subpoenas also ask for notes from meetings the reporters may have had with Harmon.
Bishop Estate attorney Matt Tsukazaki could not be reached last night for comment.
Harmon's hearing on the contempt allegation is set for Friday before Circuit Judge Bambi Weil.
For more, GO TO > > > Claims By Harmon; Woo vs. Harmon
* * * * *
October 3, 1997
Bishop legal team size exaggerated,
lawyer says
McCorriston says rumors that the estate has hired
several law firms are false
By Mike Yuen, Star-Bulletin
Bishop Estate attorney William McCorriston says Gov. Ben Cayetano was wrong in asserting that the five trustees for the $10 billion charitable trust are improperly using trust funds for legal representation during a state investigation.
Cayetano was also incorrect when he repeated a rumor that the estate was bracing for the inquiry by bolstering its "legal armament" by hiring five to seven law firms, including several from the mainland, McCorriston said yesterday.
There are only two outside lawyers - himself and Malcolm Moore, 60, who is regarded as one of the nation's leading trust law experts, McCorriston said.
The Princeton-and Harvard-educated Moore, a former president of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, is with the Seattle law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, whose 10 branch offices include Honolulu, San Francisco, Washington and Shanghai.
Responding to Cayetano
McCorriston's rebuttal came less than two hours after Cayetano, in response to reporters' questions, commented on the state's investigation into the estate.
"Unfortunately, the governor was not aware of all the facts before he made a judgment. The fact of the matter is that the trustees, on my advice, have retained individual counsel on matters pertaining to the