Quichocho suspended 3 years for professional misconduct

Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho yesterday issued an order suspending controversial lawyer Ramon K. Quichocho’s license to practice law for three years for professional misconduct by using a legal tool to harass a former client to get payment.

“Respondent Quichocho’s actions were not based on negligence or mistake, but instead were intentional, calculated to obtain payment from a former client through the misuse of legal mechanisms,” Camacho said.

The judge noted that Quichocho’s conduct warrants a serious sanction but finds that disbarment is too severe, citing the decisions of other courts faced with fact patterns similar to this case.

Camacho said that Quichocho shall not be reinstated unless he provides proof that he has passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination with a score of 80 or higher within one year prior to his application for reinstatement.

Quichocho was required to comply with all requirements of Rule 15 of the Disciplinary Rules and Procedures of the CNMI Supreme Court. He was ordered to pay all costs and attorney’s fees in connection with the case.

“Attorneys in the Commonwealth must not be allowed to use their superior knowledge of the legal system to harm their clients. A system that allows such abuse is one that the public should have no confidence in,” Camacho pointed out.

Camacho held a disciplinary hearing on May 8, 2014. George L. Hasselback was the prosecuting attorney appointed to the case. Quichocho appeared with his counsel, Edward C. Arriola.

The case arises out of allegations that Quichocho violated provisions of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct by acting in concert with his wife, Frances, and his uncle, Felipe Atalig, to submit a series of Open Government Meetings and Records Act requests to his former client, the Municipality of Tinian and Aguiguan, in order to press the client to make payments for legal services.

In his order, Camacho established that Quichocho provided legal services to the Municipality of Tinian and Aguiguan from October 2009 to September 2010. As a result, the municipality incurred legal fees and, as of October 2010, had an outstanding bill.

Beginning Oct. 21, 2010, Quichocho took the first of many actions that were presented as legitimate legal proceedings, but that had the true purpose of pressuring the municipality to pay his outstanding legal fees.

The actions included a series of OGA requests targeting the municipality that were submitted by Quichocho, his wife, and Atalig to then-acting municipal treasurer Allen Perez, and Mayor Ramon M. Dela Cruz.

Quichocho offered to withdraw the OGA requests and refrain from filing a civil action alleging OGA violations if the municipality pays his outstanding legal fees.

Camacho said that several aspects of 13 OAG requests indicate that they were all part of one coordinated effort.

First, the judge said, the language of the requests is virtually identical and that the requests were all made by individuals closely related to Quichocho—Frances and Atalig.

Although he found it unnecessary to delve into the particulars of the OGA requests, Camacho said the scope of the requests was broad.

Camacho said in an effort to comply with the requests, the Mayor’s Office and Tinian Municipal Treasury made available for inspection all documents that had been processed during the then-current administration, expending hundreds of employee hours.

Camacho pointed out that there were multiple occasions when the staff of the Mayor’s Office made records available for inspection in accordance with the OGA requests, and no one showed up for the scheduled inspection.

“The court finds that in coordinating these OGA requests, Quichocho acted under false pretenses. His intent was not to obtain government documents, but to leverage payment from the municipality.”

Camacho cited that during a meeting at Poon’s Restaurant on Saipan on Nov. 17, 2010, Quichocho offered that if the municipality paid him $5,000 for its outstanding legal fees, he would withdraw all of his and his wife’s OGA requests.

Quichocho also stated that he would talk to Atalig to ensure that his uncle will also withdraw his OGA requests.

Dela Cruz accepted the offer and on that same day, the municipality paid Quichocho’s law office and received a receipt.

The following day, Nov. 18, 2010, the Quichocho couple sent a letter to Dela Cruz, demanding additional payments, purportedly to cover the legal costs of submitting the OGA requests.

On Dec. 24, 2010, the Quichocho couple sent a letter to Perez renewing their earlier OGA requests that were withdrawn following the Nov. 17, 2010, meeting, and also making new requests.

Camacho said Quichocho violated his duty to his clients to avoid conflicts between his interests and the interests of his former client, his duty to the public to conduct himself with personal integrity, and his duty to the legal system to promote the administration of justice.

Quichocho