Change attorneys
We should all be outraged at former Governor Froilan Cruz Tenorio. He made such a tragic mistake.
Guess who he recently picked for his attorney in the ongoing litigation against him. None other than Mr. Timothy H. Skinner: the enemy–or rather, the attorney for the enemy.
Of all the available attorneys, why did Lang have to choose Mr. Skinner? The same attorney who represented our fanatical detractors in the $1 billion class action lawsuit against our local garment industry?
Former Governor Tenorio has long been a champion of local self-government. Why should he suddenly give his business to an attorney who represented the Millberg Weiss law firm in New York?
Remember that $1 billion lawsuit? The one that gave us such adverse–and patently false–publicity?
Well, attorney Skinner had a direct hand in it. He actively took part in this wicked and groundless lawsuit against the Northern Marianas.
“Saipan has become America’s worst sweatshop,” said Al Meyherhoff, one of the New York City attorneys involved in the $1 billion garment shakedown against the CNMI. Mr. Skinner was a part of this CNMI conspiracy, which portrayed our islands in the worst possible light.
To a certain extent, Lang might as well make a charitable contribution to the Global Survival Network, a non-profit left-wing, human rights propaganda group dedicated toward destroying our beloved commonwealth. Lang might as well be a frequent 20/20 viewer.
I know. I know. Attorneys are supposed to be harlots–or hired guns. They represent anybody and everybody. But there is still something awfully disturbing about representing the wrong side.
Why couldn’t Froilan hire David A. Wiseman instead? At least Mr. Wiseman, for all his alleged faults, never represented the CNMI’s enemies.
Besides, didn’t Wiseman win a somewhat similar case before? Didn’t he establish that the government was responsible for paying the attorneys fees of sued government employees? (The airport immigration office lease case, for example.)
Why doesn’t David Wiseman take up Froilan’s case? Could he be afraid that it might damage his chances for a judicial nomination with the current administration?
In any event, I believe Wiseman would be better than Skinner. Froilan should fire Skinner.
Skinner did not care about the potential economic and political impact his frivolous lawsuit would have upon the people of the Northern Mariana Islands. My advice to the former governor: fire Skinner and hire Wiseman. Anybody but Skinner. May he never work in this town again.
Strictly a personal view. Charles Reyes Jr. is a regular columnist of Saipan Tribune. Mr. Reyes may be reached at charlesraves@hotmail.com
