I didn’t have to ask for our money back but my wife did and our lawyer returned the money because he thought it was the right and honest thing to do.
My point here is that some Saipan lawyers have been getting away with overcharging their clients.
For example, the $20 million garment settlement or our land case settlement where lawyers involved in both collected excessive fees.
Lawyers involved in our ongoing land case took the money and ran. Two lawyers who were part of our land case did the same thing in the Malite case and they were thrown in jail.
These excessive abuses should alarm our Legislature. Lawmakers should take the necessary action to regulate all these excessive charges.
Don’t get me wrong. There are good honest lawyers but there are also bad greedy lawyers and I hope our Legislature will look into this problem.
Lawyers are supposed to help us, not steal from us. Regulations must be put in place to protect our consumers and community in this bad economy.
I believe our Legislature will do the right thing to get to the bottom of these problems and put a stop to them by putting in new protocols and regulations — I hope so, because we the people deserve protection and honesty is our best policy for accountability and transparency.
JOAQUIN ROMOLOR
Portland, Oregon
