Mark Scoggins wants to withdraw as lawyer for a businessman and his former company after they allegedly failed to pay his law office for the racketeering lawsuit his law firm filed on their behalf.<\/p>\n
Scoggins said his clients\u2014Il Hwan Kim and KSA Corp.\u2014have not responded despite his efforts to get in touch with them daily for several months.<\/p>\n
Scoggins said some of these communications have been in the Korean language and that they have no doubt that the communication was sent to a source to which Kim and KSA have access.<\/p>\n
He said Kim and KSA did have one phone conversation with him, in which promises of payment and also further communication on a specific time frame were agreed.<\/p>\n
Scoggins said Kim and KSA did not follow through despite his clear instruction, through an interpreter.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of these failures, the lawyers of this office have been unable to obtain necessary information to properly represent KSA and Mr. Kim in this matter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This, Scoggins said, coupled with the fact that racketeering cases are difficult and intensive to begin with, renders the representation \u201cunreasonably difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lawyer said that Kim and KSA have not paid his office for some months now, despite repeated attempts to communicate with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cKSA and Mr. Kim have made promises, but have not kept their promises,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Scoggins cited the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility for his bid to withdraw from the case. <\/p>\n
Last March, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona dismissed Kim\u2019s and KSA\u2019s claims against Joann P. Hensley, the remaining defendants in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Manglona dismissed with prejudice the claims against Hensley at the request of Kim and KSA.<\/p>\n
Dismiss with prejudice means Kim and KSA can no longer re-file the claims against Hensley.<\/p>\n
The other defendants in the case were Hun Jin An and Jeong Eun Tack. Both have been dismissed from the case on technical grounds.<\/p>\n
Kim and KSA alleged in their lawsuit that the defendants conspired to steal millions of dollars from him for his hotel and casino project on Saipan.<\/p>\n
Aside from those three defendants, Kim and KSA Corp. also sued former House speaker Oscar M. Babauta, Department of Public Lands employee Ramon S. Salas, and 10 unnamed co-defendants pursuant to Racketeer Influence and Corrupt Organizations Act and other causes of action.<\/p>\n
In 2017, the court dismissed with prejudice the claims against Babauta. <\/p>\n
In January 2018, Manglona also dismissed the claims against Salas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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