Based on documents Atalig submitted to the court, the total hours of services they rendered covers from Jan. 14, 1995 to Nov. 30, 2007.
From 1995 to 2000, the documents showed a total of 1,208.5 hours rendered at an hourly rate of $150, multiplied by 1.5 lodestar. This gives a total of $271,912.50 for the six-year period.
From 2001 to 2007, the lawyers spent a total of 4,899.5 hours at an hourly rate of $250. Multiplied by 1.5 lodestar, this gives a total of $1,837.312.50.
Lodestar is the amount obtained by multiplying the reasonable amount of hours spent by an attorney working on a case by the reasonable hourly billing rate for purposes of calculating an award of attorney’s fees.
Atalig provided a breakdown of all applicable attorneys hours spent related to the probate.
Yana submitted a two-page attorney’s hours of work and accounting statement that was incorporated in their arguments in response to attorney Stephen Nutting’s motion to disgorge their attorney’s fees during the hearing on Monday.
Yana stated that the enormous number of hours they spent in prosecuting the claims of the heirs of Angel Malite with the Department of Public Lands and in defending their entitlement to the compensation in the court is clearly shown in the hours of work Atalig submitted.
“This tremendous amount of work justifies the previous judge’s decision that Atalig was entitled to at least one third of the amount recovered by the heirs,” Yana said.
He added that the $150,000 awarded by then-Judge Juan Lizama in the probate which was appealed by Nutting in behalf of his clients was not covered by the Supreme Court’s decision or remand because Nutting could not show that his clients’ right to due process was violated.
Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo ordered the temporary release of Atalig and Yana from detention on Monday until the next hearing which is set for Jan. 16. This after the Atalig argued that that their lawyer, Douglas Cushnie, who is off-island, should be given a chance to argue.
Govendo asked Atalig to submit more documents and provide a breakdown of where the money he received from the Malite probate went.
The two lawyers have been in jail since March 2008 for civil contempt in connection with the Malite probate but Govendo allowed them to be out of jail for a few days each week to work on satisfying the court’s orders.
Govendo ordered Yana and Atalig to stay in prison until they return the $1,288,500 attorneys’ fees they have received or $1,138,500 in the civil case and $150,000 in the first distribution in the probate case.
The two lawyers have not yet returned the amount in full or in part.
