Woo vs. Harmon - Witness James Wriston, Esq., Ashford & Wriston

David C. Farmer, Successor-Trustee vs. Harmon

(Formerly Woo vs. Harmon & Nicholson vs. Harmon)

CV05-00030 DAE KSC

U.S. District Court For the District of Hawaii

Judges: David A. Ezra; Kevin S. Chang

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DEFENDANT’S WITNESS

JAMES WRISTON

Ashford & Wriston
Alii Place, Suite 1400,
1099 Alakea Street, Honolulu, HI 96813

Fax: (808) 533-4945

Email: jwriston@awlaw.com

Website: www.awlaw.com

A. James Wriston, of counsel to Ashford & Wriston, has practiced with the firm since 1954.

Mr. Wriston focuses his practice on real property, administration of trusts, and business transactions. His experience includes:

General representation to The Estate of James Campbell for 35 years, particularly with regard to rights and responsibilities of trustees and beneficiaries of a dynastic trust and petitions for instructions from the supervising court;

General representation of beneficiaries of the Samuel Mills Damon Estate with regard to rights and responsibilities of trustees and beneficiaries of a dynastic trust and petitions for instructions from the supervising court;

Assisting a major Japanese corporation and its subsidiaries in the analysis of its substantial investments in Hawai`i real estate and in the formulation and implementation of strategies regarding such investments;

Assisting buyers, sellers, lessors, lessees, mortgagors, mortgagees and developers in connection with major sale and purchase, lease and mortgage transactions and developments of residential, commercial and industrial real estate in Hawai`i, in the mainland United States and in Europe.

Professional Activities:

Mr. Wriston is a member of the Hawai`i State Bar Association and its Real Property and Alternate Dispute Resolution sections; he also served as a past director and treasurer of the Hawai`i State Bar Association and as chairman of its Legal Ethics Committee. He is a member of the American Bar Association and its Real Property, Probate and Trust Law section. He has served on the Circuit Grievance Committee. He has also served as a director and as past president of the Legal Aid Society of Hawai`i and, in addition, is a "former" Chairman of Trustees of the Academy of the Pacific.

Professional Recognition:

Mr. Wriston was appointed to the Committee for Disciplinary Board by the Hawai`i Supreme Court. He was selected and named as one of the best real estate lawyers in Hawai`i in The Best Lawyers in America, 1991 to present editions, and was featured on the cover of Honolulu magazine's April, 1999 issue featuring the Best Lawyers in Hawai`i. Mr. Wriston is a life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a life member of the American Judicature Society and a member of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys.

Community Activities:

Mr. Wriston is a trustee and Past Chairman of Trustees of the Academy of the Pacific and director of Maunalani Nursing Center and Maunalani Foundation. He is an emeritus member of the Board of Governors of the Honolulu Unit of the Shriners Hospitals for Children. Mr. Wriston is the president of the Scottish Rite Foundation of Hawai`i, which provides services to young children who have childhood language disorders and also operates the Masonic Public Library of Hawaii, which maintains a collection of Masonic works and Hawaiiana for the benefit of the public. He serves as Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Hawai`i for the Supreme Council 33' Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction of USA and is one of the Active Members of the Supreme Council. He is a member and past director of the Rotary Club of Honolulu, is a director and secretary of the Friends of the Cancer Research Center of Hawai`i, a director of the Children's Alliance of Hawaii, and is past director, president and chairman of the Diamond Head Theatre. He is also a past director and chairman of the Friends of the East-West Center and past director of Junior Achievement of Hawai`i. He is also a member of the Royal Order of Jesters. Mr. Wriston is a member of the Pacific Club and Volcano Country Club and is an active supporter of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, the Hawai`i Theatre and the Diamond Head Theatre.

http://www.ashfordwriston.com/AttorneyDetail.asp?ID=jwriston

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James Wriston is a founding Partner of the law firm Ashford & Wriston LLP. Successor-Trustee David C. Farmer, was an associate of this firm from 1998 to 2001 – during a period of Defendant’s RICO lawsuit and his bankruptcy proceedings. Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate is a major client of this firm.

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NEW DISCOVERY - 06/14/08: DAVID FARMER’S UNDISCLOSED RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE DIAMOND HEAD THEATRE, JAMES MacARTHUR, THE MacARTHUR FOUNDATION, GOLDMAN SACHS, ROBERT RUBIN, BILL CLINTON, HENRY PAULSON, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY, FAYE KURREN, HAUNANI APOLIONA, KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS, WALLY CHIN, HENRY PETERS, BISHOP MUSEUM, ADELE SMITH SIMMONS, BRAD HEPPNER, MARSH & McLENNAN, JAMES WRISTON, JUNE JONES, JOE MOORE, JAMES NICHOLSON, RON REWALD, ETC....:

www.jamesmacarthur.com/TwentiethCentury/TwentiethCentury.shtml

http://starbulletin.com/1999/04/14/news/story1.html

www.kycbs.net/Non-Profits.htm

www.kycbs.net/Bishop-Museum.htm

www.kycbs.net/ConnecticutConnection.htm

www.kycbs.net/MarshBirds.htm

www.kycbs.net/WCI.htm

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NEW DISCOVERY (10-30-07): In August, 1999, Robert Bruce Graham of Ashford & Wriston filed a petition for the salaries of the Interim Trustees, Robert Kihune, David Coon, Francis Keala, Constance Lau, and Ronald Libkuman. (Reference: http://www.ksbe.edu/newsroom/filings/compensation.pdf)

In the same month, Bruce Graham filed a Petition on behalf of these same Interim Trustees to establish procedures for the selection of new trustees. (Reference: http://www.ksbe.edu/newsroom/filings/selection.pdf )

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May 20, 2000

Kamehameha
fires law firms

A special master's report
says much legal work served
board members' interests,
not the trust's

By Rick Daysog, Star-Bulletin

Kamehameha Schools has terminated several of its law firms, one day after a court-appointed special master issued a scathing report on their roles in the three-year trust controversy.

In a brief statement yesterday, the estate's interim board and Chief Executive Officer Hamilton McCubbin said they would immediately discontinue the firms' services pending the completion of an internal investigation.

The estate said it would decide what action, if any, it would take against the firms once its inquiry is completed.

"The report of the special master ... raises question about the propriety of services rendered by some of these advisors," the estate said.

The charitable trust did not identify which firms were terminated, but one, Cades Schutte Fleming & Wright, confirmed its suspension. At least one other firm, Ashford & Wriston, also was terminated, a person close to the trust said. Partners at the Ashford firm did not return calls.

In a report filed in Circuit Court on Thursday, court-appointed special master Robert Richards said several of the estate's outside attorneys assisted in a "Herculean effort" to circumvent disclosure to the attorney general's investigation and took part in a "destroy the opposition" effort by former majority trustees Henry Peters, Richard "Dickie" Wong and Lokelani Lindsey.

The Richards study, which examined legal work by 12 of the estate's outside firms in the 1998-1999 period, also recommended that the probate court surcharge the former trustees for nearly $5 million in fees, saying much of the law firms' work served the interests of the board members and not the trust.

Richards singled out Cades Schutte's work as "the most troubling" and urged the probate court to order the disgorgement of $880,000 of the $1.3 million that it earned between 1998 and 1999.

Richards said the firm spent considerable trust funds researching the free-speech limitations of senior U.S. District Judge Samuel King, an outspoken critic of the trust, and looked into possible remedies against Bobby Harmon, the former head of the estate's insurance subsidiary, in an apparent attempt to silence criticism.

The law firm also reviewed sets of photographs taken of a May 1997 protest march, in an apparent attempt to assist the former majority trustees in identifying opponents, Richards said.

Cades Schutte strongly disagreed with the master's findings and said its work for the trust was appropriate. The firm said its staff was not trying to silence criticism when it reviewed photos of the march but was attempting to prepare documents in response to various subpoenas and legal requests.

The firm, which has represented the estate for at least 30 years, said it expects to be vindicated once the Probate Court hears its side of the story.

"There was never any attempt by us to identify any of the people in the photographs," the firm said.

"The master's report was wrong about that, and about other allegations, in large part because he never talked to us. We are amazed and disappointed that he took several months to prepare his report and made serious allegations without ever asking our attorneys or staff members about what they did or why."

Meanwhile, the attorney general's office applauded the estate's decision to suspend some of their outside firms in light of the disclosures in Richards' report.

"This is a prudent course of action," said Deputy Attorney General Hugh Jones.

"The attorney general strongly supports the announcement by the estate's chief executive officer."

http://starbulletin.com/2000/05/20/news/

Bishop Estate Archive

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From their website:

ASHFORD & WRISTON

Firm Profile:

The firm was established in 1955. We currently have twenty-six lawyers and six paralegals.

The firm's practice is real estate oriented with sub-specialties in real estate transactions and development, condemnation, title insurance, commercial leasing (including rent re-openings), condominiums, quiet title and representation of financial institutions in foreclosures, bankruptcies and workouts. The firm also has corporate, intellectual property, employment, estate planning and family law departments. While much of the firm's litigation practice is real estate related, the litigation department also handles a broad range of general commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation cases. The firm's clients include many of Hawaii's largest landowners as well as shopping centers, banks, credit unions and title companies.

Representative Clients:

American Savings; Barnwell Industries; Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Ford Motor Credit Corp; Hawaii Credit Union League; Hawaii Medical Service Assn.; Hawaii Reserves, Inc.; Hawaii State Federal Credit Union; Kahua Ranch, Limited; Kamehameha Schools; Kaneohe Ranch; Knudsen Trust; Lunalilo Trust; Old Republic Title Co.; Parker Ranch; Queen Liliuokalani Trust; McCandless Ranch; The Queen Emma Land Company; Roman Catholic Church, State of Hawaii; Territorial Savings & Loan Assn.; The Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific; Title Guaranty of Hawaii; Title Guaranty Escrow Services, Inc.; Ticor Title Insurance Co.