Quichocho found committing another professional misconduct

Superior Court Associate Judge David A. Wiseman has determined that disbarred lawyer Ramon King Quichocho Jr. committed acts constituting professional misconduct by filing false statements against Associate Judge Kenneth L. Govendo and bringing a lawsuit against Govendo to delay proceedings and avoid sanction.

In another disciplinary action issued against Quichocho yesterday, Wiseman sanctioned the controversial lawyer with a public reprimand and ordered him to pay all costs and fees incurred in the matter.

Wiseman said Quichocho violated his duty to maintain the integrity of the legal profession by making false statements, misrepresenting case law, failing to observe the high standard of conduct required of judicial nominees, and timing court filings to delay proceedings and avoid discipline.

“Such conduct violates the professional standards for an attorney practicing before the courts of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,” the judge said.

The disciplinary hearing was held last week, Dec. 9. Daniel T. Guidotti was the appointed disciplinary counsel. Quichocho did not appear and respond to the complaint.

The CNMI Bar Association Disciplinary Committee forwarded to the court the disciplinary matter arising from Quichocho’s conduct and actions during the litigation of Shinji Fujie’s and Toshin Group International Inc.’s lawsuit against Quichocho and his uncle, Joaquin Q. Atalig.

During the Fujie case, Quichocho twice requested the recusal of Govendo. He alleged, among other things, that Govendo should recuse himself because he is prejudiced against Filipinos and locals.

On Aug. 6, 2013, Govendo issued an order to show cause, warning Quichocho and the lawyer of his co-defendant of possible sanctions based on their filing of a motion to reconsider. Govendo ordered Quichocho to appear on Sept. 3, 2013, for a hearing to determine whether sanctions were appropriate.

An hour before the Sept. 3 disciplinary hearing, Quichocho filed a taxpayer lawsuit against Govendo, alleging that the government should force the judge to disgorge any money paid to him “for acts for which he was sanctioned by the Supreme Court.”

Quichocho at the same time filed a motion to disqualify Govendo from hearing further proceedings in Fujie’s case because he (Quichocho) had named the judge a defendant in the taxpayer lawsuit.

In September 2013, Govendo sanctioned Quichocho with a $5,000 fine for filing documents that he found saturated with abusive language directed at him and attorney Stephen Nutting.

Govendo and Nutting complained to the Bar Association Disciplinary Committee concerning Quichocho’s tactics, and whether those tactics violated Quichocho’s duties to maintain the integrity of the legal profession.

In his order yesterday, Wiseman said that Quichocho’s filing of the taxpayer lawsuit and motion to disqualify were not sincere attempts to improve the integrity of the judicial process.

“Instead, they were intentional attempts to harass Judge Govendo, subvert the judicial process, and unethically seek an outcome that favored respondent,” Wiseman said.

Wiseman said that, while it generally is not an abuse of the legal process to file in good faith a motion to disqualify a judge or to file in good faith a claim against a judge or a judge’s relative, the manner in which Quichocho used legal tools to undermine the legal process in an attempt to avoid sanction cannot be tolerated.

“Such conduct wastes judicial resources and undermines the judicial function of regulating attorney conduct,” he said.

Although suspension would be warranted, since Quichocho is already disbarred, the appropriate sanction is a public reprimand, Wiseman said.

Last July 16, Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho ordered the disbarment of Quichocho from the practice of law in CNMI courts for professional misconduct in representing his then-client, businesswoman Jung Ja Kim.

Last Aug. 13, U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona suspended Quichocho from the practice of law in federal court for a period of three years following Camacho’s suspension of the lawyer.

Last May 28, Camacho suspended Quichocho’s license to practice law for three years for using a legal tool to harass a former client in order to obtain payment.

Last July, Wiseman ordered a public reprimand against Quichocho for professional misconduct in connection with another Bar complaint filed by a couple.

Last March 28, a federal jury reached a unanimous verdict, holding Quichocho and his wife, and his law firm liable to pay $2.4 million in damages to Jung Ja Kim, who filed a racketeering lawsuit against them.