Bishop Estate
to hand over
records on
trustee meetings

The records could verify
that Lindsey had board approval
for her actions at Kamehameha

By Rick Daysog
Star-Bulletin

Bishop Estate's in-house lawyer must hand over records of board of trustees' meetings for the past six years under a ruling by a state judge.

Circuit Judge Bambi Weil yesterday denied a motion by trust lawyer Nathan Aipa to quash a subpoena by a lawyer for Bishop Estate trustee Oswald Stender for the records, which cover board meetings for the 1993 through 1998 period.

Douglas Ing, Stender's lawyer, subpoenaed the records on Dec. 18 for the trial to remove Bishop Estate trustee Lokelani Lindsey. Ing said the records were needed to verify statements by Lindsey that she had received board approval for actions she conducted at the estate-run Kamehameha Schools.

Stender and fellow trustee Gerard Jervis are seeking Lindsey's ouster, alleging she breached her fiduciary duties, intimidated students and staffers and is unfit to serve on the trust's five-member board.

Yesterday's ruling comes after state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Moon on Dec. 23 temporarily blocked a Dec. 21 ruling by Weil ordering Aipa to deliver the minutes to Ing. Moon also ordered Weil to hold a hearing on Aipa's objections to the subpoena.

Aipa -- backed by the estate's majority trustees Henry Peters, Richard "Dickie" Wong and Lindsey -- argued that much of the minutes contained material that should be protected by attorney-client privilege.

Handing over the records would place Aipa in the position of violating a court order or violating his duties to his client, Aipa's attorney Howard Luke had argued.

However, Weil said that in cases involving joint clients -- such as a legal action between two or three trustees -- there is no such privilege.

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