Judge Manglona sanctions Quichocho for late filing

U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona sanctioned yesterday attorney Ramon K. Quichocho for his late filing on behalf of a client who sued several businesses for allegedly having facilities that are not accessible to persons with disabilities.
Manglona told Quichocho that he violated Model Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.3, which relates to the duty of diligence, when he neglected to file his client William A. Tracy’s opposition to a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

The judge ordered Quichocho to pay for their time all four lawyers—Mark Scoggins, Joshua Berger, Colin Thompson, and Robert Torres—in preparing for the motion to dismiss. All four appeared in court yesterday morning.

Manglona required Quichocho to pay these costs personally and that he not charge his client, Tracy, for yesterday’s proceeding or costs incurred by defendants.

The judge denied Quichocho’s request that Berger not be included in the court’s sanction order.

Manglona accepted Quichocho’s filing of an opposition to dismiss, on the condition that he pay for the sanction as ordered.

Manglona ordered the defendants to submit their billings to Quichocho for review and payment.

If Quichocho has any objections to the billings, Manglona said the court will hear arguments on this issue. She advised Quichocho that he may raise his arguments as a challenge to the sanction ruling.

The hearing on the defendants’ motion to dismiss was reset to March 20 at 1:30pm.

According to court records, Scoggins, counsel for Ming Yang Corp. that owns Ming Yang Market and New Ming Yang Market, filed a motion to dismiss Tracy’s lawsuit in January. The motion was not opposed.

Berger, counsel for Donald Bufton who owns Round II, joined Scoggins’ motion to dismiss.

Torres and Thompson also have clients who were named defendants in Tracy’s lawsuit.

Quichocho submitted his motion to oppose the case’s dismissal only yesterday morning, the day of the scheduled hearing. He also filed another motion asking for an extension of time for his opposition.

Quichocho argued that he needed more time because he had been busy preparing for his own case against businesswoman Jung Ja Kim. The trial of Kim’s lawsuit has been ongoing in federal court.