The lawyer, Bruce L Jorgensen, said in an email: “In typical CNMI [government] fashion, the CNMI-paid lawyer seeks to vilify/sanction the attorney seeking to remedy CNMI-initiated/perpetuated injustices, illicit activities, malfeasance, etc…. Perhaps the only surprising aspect being their wait, until now, to do so. Another seemingly dilatory tactic.”
In his 14-page motion for sanctions filed in federal court on Tuesday, attorney Braddock Huesman, the defendants’ counsel, said plaintiffs John Roe and Jane Roe, despite the stay order, have not stopped “from consistently attempting to continue to litigate the appeal in [federal] court as opposed to the Ninth Circuit.”
Huesman is representing Fund Chairman Sixto Igisomar, former vice chairman Pedro Dela Cruz, and trustee Adelina Roberto.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial was also named as a defendant in this lawsuit filed by the Roes in federal court to place the Fund under federal receivership.
Huesman said the Roes’ violated the federal court’s stay order by filing a non-emergency “emergency” motion seeking class certification and substitution of plaintiffs.
The court denied all relief requested, Huesman said, except for the substitution of plaintiffs.
The anonymous retirees never re-filed their “emergency” request to lift stay and for class certification “until now,” Huesman said.
“This court gave the Roes the opportunity to list their legal reasons for requesting the substitution of plaintiffs and, instead of doing so, the Roes chose to attack the undersigned and other defense counsel baselessly and personally,” Huesman stated in the motion.
He said the plaintiffs have also been attempting to get the Ninth Circuit appeal dismissed “so that they may, legitimately, move forward with their case in [federal] court. They have utterly failed to do so.”
Instead of litigating this matter in the Ninth Circuit or filing a paper citing case law or discussing jurisdiction, Huesman said Jorgensen filed a paper that made unsupported allegations, relied solely on ad hominem attacks, failed to discuss the appeal in this matter, and failed to discuss the adverse case law in this matter.
“This is unacceptable conduct for a reasonable man, who is a competent attorney admitted to practice before this court. For these reasons, Mr. Jorgensen has violated Rule 11 and should be sanctioned,” Huesman said.
He is asking the federal court to strike the “offending” motion, order Jorgensen to file an apology, admitting the allegations were unsupported with this court, fine Jorgensen an amount sufficient to deter him from filing similar papers, and administer a nonmonetary sanction it sees fit.
