Previous Story
Tax lawyer will be Fitial’s legal counsel
|
Posted on Jan 03 2006
A tax attorney currently based in California will serve as the governor’s legal counsel when Speaker Benigno R. Fitial assumes the CNMI’s top executive post next week.
According to Fitial, attorney Joel Bergsma will replace Steve Newman, who has served as legal counsel to outgoing Gov. Juan N. Babauta.
Bergsma served as chief legal counsel to the 4th House of Representatives, of which Fitial was a member.
In 1985, U.S. President Reagan appointed Fitial to be the chairman of the NMI Commission on Federal Laws. Bergsma was one of the four other individuals that made up the commission.
Bergsma has continued to help Fitial on tax-related issues even during the 14th Legislature.
In 2004, Bergsma and two other tax experts made a presentation to the House members on tax and revenue policies. They also recommended several measures that would shore up the revenue streams of the government and plug up loopholes in the tax system.
“[Fitial and Bergsma] have a long history. They have a good working relationship. The speaker has a very high confidence in attorney Bergsma’s ability. He is a very nice, personable gentleman,” House leadership spokesperson Charles Reyes Jr. said yesterday.
Bergsma’s profile on the www.lawyers.com website showed that he practices corporate law, international law, trusts and estates, and probate.
He received his bachelor’s degree with distinction in 1977 from George Washington University and earned his law degree from Harvard University in 1980.
He was admitted in Colorado in 1980; California, 1981; Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 1982; Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 1983; CNMI, 1985; Palau, 1986; and the U.S. Supreme Court, 1990.
He was president of the NMI Bar Association from 1989 to 1990. He is also a member of the San Diego County Bar Association and the State Bar of California.
He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Dec. 16, 1954.
