Yana, Atalig back in jail

Superior Court Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo ordered yesterday the continued detention of attorneys Reynaldo O. Yana and Antonio M. Atalig, denying them attorneys’ fees and ruling that they owe $1.3 million to the Angel Malite estate.

“Mr. Yana and Mr. Atalig, you should be ashamed of yourselves!” said Govendo, telling the two lawyers they are not going to get a single cent from the Malite estate.

After the hearing, a visibly irate Atalig told the media that people in the Marianas should know that Govendo is a marijuana user.

Yana said they will definitely appeal.

The 65-year-old Yana said he may die in jail after a year or two because the money—which he and Atalig believe belongs to them—is already gone.

At the hearing, Govendo ordered Yana and Atalig to report to the Department of Corrections tomorrow, Friday, at 8am.

“I will be calling DOC at 8:15am. If you are not there, I will issue a bench warrant. You are not taking this seriously!” the judge said.

Govendo said the two lawyers owe $1,288,500 to the Malite estate after they failed to return the attorneys’ fees they got from the estate.

He ordered Yana to pay the estate $330,000, while Atalig was directed to pay the remaining balance.

“This is disgraceful!” Govendo said.

Govendo said the money belongs to the Malite estate and not the attorneys.

The judge reiterated his earlier position that there is no such thing as contingency fee when it comes to estate probate.

Govendo said Yana and Atalig were trying to reconstruct the attorney’s fees because they thought they were entitled to a third of the money received by the Malite estate.

Govendo said it is beyond his understanding why the attorneys’ fees that Atalig and Yana got were approved through an “ex parte by a former judge.” It was former Associate Judge Juan T. Lizama who approved the attorneys’ fees.

“They [Yana and Atalig] spent like, ‘Oh boy! What a break! Let’s spend it!’” Govendo said.

Govendo suggested that Yana contact his friends and relatives in the Philippines to help him pay the money.

He also urged Atalig to contact Roman Demapan and get from him at least $200,000 to $250,000. Govendo said that Demapan, although not a paralegal, apparently received the money after he performed “paralegal” services for Atalig’s law firm.

Govendo said there was no great legal argument or research done in the Malite case. “Hundreds of hours of legal work for what? A handful of documents?” he said.

Citing a CNMI Supreme Court ruling that denied attorney’s fees for excessiveness, Govendo noted that Yana and Atalig both filed vague attorneys’ billings.

Citing 626 hours of “conference” with a former Malite estate administrator, Govendo said this is what the Supreme Court had in mind when it made the ruling in the previous case.

In reading the breakdown of expenses, Govendo said Yana spent $300,000 in a one-year period. Yana reportedly got $330,000 in attorney’s fees.

When Govendo asked him about it, Yana simply agreed.

The judge cited Yana’s expenses that include $2,815 for PlayStations and Gameboys and $1,400 for DVDs.

“You were a Santa Claus for a year!” Govendo said.

Emerging from the court after the hearing, Atalig asked the waiting media to tell Govendo that he should stop smoking marijuana and stop ruling from the bench.

“Tell Govendo to stop smoking marijuana. That’s his favorite. He loves to send people to jail and he himself smokes marijuana. That guy has to pay his dues, too. Tell him to go to jail for smoking marijuana. He is not supposed to sit on the bench. Let the whole Marianas understand this,” Atalig said.

He said he has witnesses to prove that Govendo smokes pot.

“The guy is crazy. So everything is free these days? Whose lawyers are going to continue to handle these kinds of cases for free?” Atalig asked.

Yana said they’ve been saying all along that Govendo is biased; that’s why they wanted him disqualified from presiding over the case.

“But he doesn’t want to get off the case and we expected this,” Yana said.

He said there is no question that they are going to appeal.

Yana said they are not going to pay because they don’t have the money anymore.

He said he is definitely going to report to DOC on Friday.

“I kinda get used to it. We’ve been there for nine months, so nothing unusual anymore,” he said. “So I just have to go to jail and keep on going to jail and stay in jail until … So maybe I’m going to die one or two years from now, so I get to stay in jail for only two years,” Yana said, smiling.

Attorney Stephen Nutting, counsel for some of the Malite heir claimants, said he is very happy with the court’s decision.

“It’s been a long time coming. There’s a lot of time and effort in trying to recover this money. That job is still not finished yet,” Nutting said.

The current Malite estate administrator, Esther Sound, said she is very happy with the decision.

“It’s been very tough with the family. My mom passed away last year. I guess she is looking down on us right now and I really appreciate the work of Mr. Nutting. My mom told us to stand strong. And he’s [Nutting] been behind us all these times,” Sound said.

She added that this case should serve as a lesson to attorneys that “they just cannot take advantage of us.”

Last Jan. 16, Govendo ordered the temporary release of Yana and Atalig as their “last opportunity” to explain how they calculated their attorneys’ fees.

Govendo allowed Yana and Atalig out from jail until the next hearing, which was yesterday.

Atalig has submitted to the court a report showing that from 1995 to 2007 he provided legal services in the Malite estate for a total of 6,108 hours or equivalent to $2.1 million in attorney’s fees.

Atalig and Yana have been in jail for nine months since March 2008 when Govendo found them in civil contempt for failing to return the $1.3 million they got as attorneys’ fees in the Malite probate. They were temporarily released from DOC on Jan. 5.