ATTORNEY Robert H. Myers Jr. has requested the Superior Court to dismiss the CNMI Bar Association’s complaint for disciplinary action against him.
Myers, represented by attorney Michael Dotts, asked the court to dismiss the complaint on two grounds.
“First, that the members of the Disciplinary Committee were not elected by the majority of active members of the CNMI Bar, rendering their actions in investigating and referring the matter for prosecution ultra vires or without authority and in violation of Myers’ due process rights. Second, that the suspension order that this action arises out of was never served on Myers,” Dotts said.
According to the motion to dismiss, Myers worked for the Dotts Law Office on Saipan as an associate attorney up until early January 2019.
In January 2019, Myers relocated to Rota. “He was a single father of three children and on Rota he had family members who could help him with his children. Myers sought employment on Rota as a schoolteacher,” Dotts said.
The CNMI Bar’s complaint alleged that Myers was suspended from the practice of law on May 17, 2019.
“It is believed that the basis for his suspension was Myers’ failure to pay Bar dues,” Dotts stated.
“The complaint alleged that on February 7, 2020, Myers was notified of the suspension order. The complaint does not allege how the suspension order was served and there is no explanation in the complaint why the Bar waited nine months to serve the suspension order,” Dotts said.
Following the filing of the complaint it was learned that the suspension order was served by email, sent to rmyers@dottslaw.law in February 2020.
“This was an account that the Dotts Law Office had provided to Myers in 2018 when he worked with that firm. Myers stopped using the Dotts Law account when he relocated to Rota in January 2019. In 2020, when the suspension order was supposedly emailed to Myers at the Dotts Law address, Myers had no reason to be checking that email account, and he did not check that email account,” Dotts said.
In March 2020, Myers provided a legal opinion to the Rota Casino Gaming Commission. “Myers’ opinion was that the mayor may reappoint members to the Commission without another confirmation hearing,” Dotts said.
He noted that his client had not received the suspension order in the mail or any other way prior to issuing the legal opinion in March 2020.
“The NMI Bar has no record of having mailed the suspension order to Myers (although they are looking now). When Myers gave the opinion to the Rota Casino Gaming Commission, he had no reason to believe he had been suspended from the practice of law,” Dotts added.
“The Disciplinary Committee is made up of five members of the CNMI Bar who are elected by the majority of the active members of the NMI Bar. In 2022, the NMI Bar had 166 active members. In 2023, the NMI Bar had 154 active members. None of the members of the Disciplinary Committee elected in 2022 or 2023 were elected by a majority of the active members of the NMI Bar Association,” Dotts said.
“The Disciplinary Committee, through Nina Seelam, investigated whether Myers had practiced law while suspended. Seelam had been elected to the Disciplinary Committee in February 2023. Seelam had only received 17 votes. The Disciplinary Committee received the report of Seelam and voted to refer Myers for prosecution. None of the members of the Disciplinary Committee voting on the report had been elected to the Disciplinary Committee by a majority of the active members of the CNMI Bar,” Dotts said.
CNMI Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro Castro appointed attorney Cong Nie of the Banes Horey Berman & Miller law firm as prosecuting counsel in the CNMI Bar’s complaint against Myers.
On July 17, 2024, Nie filed a complaint for disciplinary action.
“An attorney suspended from the practice of law is prohibited by Rule 17(c) of the NMI Rules of Attorney Discipline and Procedure from accepting any new retainer or engaging as the attorney in any new case or legal matter,” Nie said.
Despite the suspension, he said Myers continued to practice law in the CNMI by engaging as attorney in new legal matters.
A hearing before Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho is scheduled for Dec. 23, 2024 at 2:30 p.m.
