Local lawyer passes 3 Bar exams in a year

Newly sworn-in CNMI lawyers Hyun Jae Lee and Jose Silvestre P. Mafnas Jr. pose for a group photo with their families, judges, justices, and lawyers during a special session at the CNMI Supreme Court last Friday. Lee and Mafnas are among the three who passed the CNMI Bar examination last July. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Two of three successful CNMI Bar examinees took their oaths during a special session at the CNMI Supreme Court last Friday morning.

CNMI Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro administered the attorney’s oath to Hyun Jae Lee and Jose Silvestre P. Mafnas Jr.

The third one, Christopher A. Heeb, was off-island last Friday.

The three passed the CNMI Bar out of five who took the exam last July.

The 34-year-old Lee said: “It has been an uphill and long journey with a lot of setbacks.”

Lee, who was born in South Korea and was raised on Saipan, first arrived on island when she was just 8 years old. She gave thanks to her parents—Jong Sik Lee and Hye Sook Kim and her sister—who were seated on the front row in the court’s gallery.

Lee expressed gratitude to Castro and associate justices John A. Manglona and Perry B. Inos as well as the Judiciary family for supporting her. Lee, who has been a law clerk for Castro for two years now, also cited judges Joseph N. Camacho and Teresa Kim-Tenorio for their encouragement.

“I feel very privileged and honored to be admitted to the [CNMI] Bar,” said Lee.

Describing the CNMI Bar exam as “very tough [and] very hard,” Lee plans to stay with the CNMI Supreme Court for awhile and “just go from there.”

Lee’s parents have been in the CNMI for 29 years already. Their first business on Saipan was the Korean American Cable Vision at Channel 23. The family now runs a souvenir wholesale business.

Lee graduated high school at Grace Christian Academy. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree at the Georgia State University, she took law at the Handong International Law School in South Korea.

Before joining the CNMI Supreme Court, Lee passed the Bar in Tennessee.

In his speech, Mafnas thanked attorney Stephen Nutting, the Judiciary, and his family, friends, and relatives.

Mafnas, 28, just started work less than a month ago at Nutting’s law office. Before that, he worked as a law clerk at the Guam Supreme Court.

Mafnas passed the Bar examinations in California, Guam, and CNMI in a one year. Of the three, he considers the CNMI’s the hardest. “There’s a lot of pressure,” he said.

“It feels to be good to be home and I’m glad that I will be able to practice here at home,” he added.

Mafnas, who is also a graduate of Grace Christian Academy, completed his bachelor’s degree at the Chaminade University. He took law at the University of California Davis School of Law and graduated in 2016.

His parents are Customs director Jose Mafnas Sr. and Geraldine Mafnas. Seeing his son take his oath was Mafnas Sr.’s proudest moment. “I watched him go through elementary, high school, then he went to his graduate, to law school,” the father said.

Attorney Jane Mack, directing attorney for the Micronesian Legal Services Corp., served as the keynote speaker at the ceremony, while NMI Bar Association vice president Sean E. Frink presented the applicants to the NMI Bar.

Mack said that lawyers have to think of fairness everyday. “It is about fairness. Life is not fair,” she said.

Frink urged the new Bar members to take up pro bono cases. “No. 1, you are helping. No. 2, it reminds you of your humanity,” Frink said.