This is according to the vendor ledgers for the period from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 14, 2010, a copy of which was obtained by the Variety recently.
Based on the documents, the Fund paid about $1,012,789.38 to attorneys Viola Alepuyo, Deborah E. Fisher, Braddock Huesman, Maya Kara and Bruce Mailman and Michael White.
This amount, however, does not include the contracts between the Fund and its in-house legal counsels Carolyn M. Kern and Christopher M. Timmons who both have two-year contracts with the pension agency.
According to Kern’s two-year contract from Jan. 18, 2010 to Jan. 17, 2012, the Fund would pay her an annual salary of $66,000 in biweekly payments of $2,538.46.
The contract further stated that the total government obligation is not to exceed $188,674.87.
Her position, the contract stated, is Fair Labor Standards Act status exempt meaning it’s not covered by overtime pay.
Timmons recently joined the Fund with a two-year contract beginning Feb. 14, 2011 and expiring on Feb. 13, 2013 for $60,000 in biweekly payments of $2,307.69. The contract stated that total government obligation is not to exceed $162,784.04.
Aside from this, his contract included $800 monthly allowance.
The ledgers indicated that Fisher Huesman LLC was paid $30,041 for their services between March 4, 2008 to Nov. 12, 2010.
Mailman and Kara LLC was paid about $52,029.40 from Aug. 19, 2008 to Oct. 18, 2010.
Michael White’s law office was paid $379.38.
Between Jan. 23, 2008 and Dec. 3, 2010, the Fund’s vendor ledgers indicated that Alepuyo received about $930,340: $102,897 from Jan. 23, 2008 to Dec. 12, 2008; $682,907 from Jan. 5, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2009; and $144,536 from Jan. 15, 2010 to Dec. 3, 2010.
The Fund entered into a sole source contract with Fisher from Dec. 18, 2009 to Dec. 17, 2010 for $200 an hour rate. Based on the contract, among the deliverables that Fisher was expected to accomplish were defense of the Fund trustees in federal, state, and administrative lawsuits and hearings including review of materials, investigation and preparation for litigation, assessment of litigation possibilities, and consultation with the board and chairman regarding litigation strategy.
The other deliverables were legal research and writing, correspondence and emails, review and editing of documents, legal advice, meetings and conferences, and other deliverables agreed by both contractor and client.
Her husband, Huesman, has an existing contract with the Fund which commenced on Jan. 1 and expiring on Dec. 31, 2013.
The contract with Huesman, like Fisher’s, stated that it’s a sole source procurement contract for legal services pursuant to Commonwealth Procurement Regulations NMIAC §110-10-801 and NMIAC §70-30.3-225.
Alepuyo’s contract with the Fund commenced on Jan. 1 this year and expires on Dec. 31, 2013 at an agreed rate of $150 per hour inclusive of ordinary costs like photocopies, faxes and filings.
Her contract called for her representation of the Fund board in regular and special board meetings, review of meeting materials, investigation and provision of legal opinions, as support member of the negotiating committee in the Retirement Fund vs CNMI litigation, drafting of legislation favorable to the Fund for submission to the Legislature, lobbying efforts, among other functions and deliverables.
Bruce L. Jorgensen, a lawyer representing anonymous retirees in a class suit vs. Gov. Benigno R. Fitial, claimed that the defense counsels representing the Fund have been enriched by the very Fund assets they have been tasked to “collect, protect, and preserve.”
In his request for status conference and motion to lift stay on the proceeding for the plaintiffs to proceed with the class action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, Jorgensen said “amid their utter failure to enforce the judgment over two years, defense counsels representing the Fund have themselves been enriched via the very Fund assets they have been tasked to collect, preserve, and protect.”
He said the “panoply of circumstances giving rise actual and prospective conflicts of interest — those among Fund counsel, alone, warrant a multi-page flow chart to adequately illustrate.”
He cited as example Fisher representing the Fund judgment creditor while her husband representing the CNMI judgment debtor.
Huesman has an existing contract with the Fund while Fisher, who used to be a counsel for the Fund, is now general counsel of the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. which the Fund is now suing for non-payment of employer contributions.
Jorgensen stated that the lawsuit brought by the Fund against CUC was reputedly
“predicating claims on allegations seemingly in the nature of bad faith negotiation antics on the part of CUC.”
He said while Fisher’s legal fee agreement purports to her a conflict waiver, the document providing this waiver was apparently executed by then CUC Executive Director Tony Muna who also simultaneously headed the CNMI “negotiating team” that dealt with the Fund regarding the settlement of the now over $300 million court judgment.
Huesman, in an email, said, Jorgensen “personally attacked not only Ms. Fisher and me, but other Retirement Fund and board attorneys. The allegations contained in the request to lift the stay are demonstrably false.”
Variety tried but failed to get comments from Fisher, Alepuyo, and Kern.
