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CPA lawyer offered $18K retainer’s fee
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Posted on Oct 19 2006
The Commonwealth Ports Authority is offering its outside legal counsel Douglas Cushnie a monthly retainer’s fee of $1,500 or a minimum of $18,000 a year, a dramatic drop from his nearly half a million dollars annual compensation in previous year.
CPA executive director Clyde Norita said yesterday that the board instructed him to present the offer to Cushnie.
“The board set a new legal fee that is hoped to be acceptable for him [Cushnie]. It’s a retainer’s fee of $1,500 a month for 10 hours. Any work done over 10 hours will be $150 per hour and any work done beyond 40 hours is $100 [per hour],” said Norita.
Cushnie used to get paid $225 per hour, an average legal fee in the CNMI.
Further, Norita said the travel clause will be stricken out from the contract. In case of important travels, the legal counsel has to comply with CNMI government standard per diem and travel class, which is economy
Cushnie was said to have received $430,000 in legal fees for fiscal year 2006.
The lawyer has been providing services to the CPA for five years now.
On other contracts, Norita said that CPA has been successful in having the Marianas Visitors Authority shoulder half of the contract payment to a route developer, UK-based Airport Strategic Marketing.
ASM, which is tasked to develop routes for the CNMI, signed a two-year contract with CPA this year, amounting to $256,000.
“We are able to strike a deal with MVA. They agreed to pay half of the contract price,” said Norita.
