ROBERT H. Myers Jr., who was suspended from practicing law in the CNMI by the local Supreme Court on May 17, 2019, is facing disciplinary action for representing clients in new cases.
Chief Justice Alexandro Castro appointed attorney Cong Nie of the Banes Horey Berman & Miller law firm as prosecuting counsel.
On July 17, 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.
Nie said that on or about March 23, 2020, Myers authored a legal opinion addressed to the Rota Casino Gaming Commission titled “Preliminary Legal Opinion No. 2020-23 03,” in which Myers gave a legal opinion and referred to himself as “Legal Counsel for RCGC.”
“Upon information and belief, this legal opinion was a new legal matter for Myers after Myers’ suspension,” Nie said.
“RCGC understood and believed that Myers was RCGC’s attorney. RCGC referred to Myers as RCGC’s ‘legal counsel’ in its correspondences with other government offices and/or third parties,” Nie added.
He said Myers admitted to the Disciplinary Committee of the CNMI Bar Association that RCGC believed that Myers was RCGC’s attorney.
“In addition, upon information and belief, after his suspension and continuing at least into the year of 2023, Myers engaged as the attorney in legal matters for individuals on Rota,” Nie said.
“Myers has admitted to the Disciplinary Committee of the CNMI Bar Association that he has given legal advice to whoever asks for it in Rota after his suspension. Myers has admitted that when someone on Rota needs legal help, for example, to file a probate case or to prepare a deed, Myers would provide such legal help,” Nie said.
Besides continuing to engage as the attorney in legal matters after his suspension, Myers continued to hold himself out as an attorney in good standing, Nie added.
On or about February or March 2023, after he was nominated to serve as a member of the board of directors for the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation and asked to submit a résumé to the Senate, Myers submitted a résumé to the Office of the Governor in which he indicated that he was an attorney from “Jan 2008- date.”
Nie said Myers did not indicate in his résumé that he had been suspended from the practice of law.
“Myers intentionally omitted the fact [from his] résumé that he had been suspended…in order to mislead the Office of the Governor and/or any other reader of his résumé into thinking he was still in good standing even though he was not,” Nie said.
Rule 3 of the NMI Rules of Attorney Discipline and Procedure provides that an attorney is subject to discipline for (among other grounds): any violation of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct of the American Bar Association, any act involving dishonesty, and/or willful disobedience or violations of a court order directing the attorney to cease an act that the attorney in good faith ought to forbear from doing, Nie said.
Rule 5.5 of the ABA Model Rules prohibits a lawyer from practicing law in violation of the applicable regulation of the legal profession, Nie added.
By continuing to engage as the attorney in new legal matters after his suspension, Myers willfully disobeyed the CNMI Supreme Court’s order suspending him from the practice of law, Nie said.
By holding himself out in his résumé as an attorney to date after his suspension, Myers committed an act of dishonesty, Nie added.
He requested a hearing and an order and decision imposing discipline as deemed appropriate by the court.
According to Variety news files, Myers failed to pay his 2019 bar membership dues.
After he had been suspended for more than six months and failed to apply for reinstatement, the CNMI Bar said it asked the chief justice to terminate Myers’ right to practice law in the Commonwealth.
On Feb. 7, 2020, the bar notified Myers of the high court’s decision to suspend him from the practice of law in local courts effective May 17, 2019.
Variety was unable to get a comment from Myers.
