Isle lawyers call
court pick ‘unqualified’Ted Hong is critical of the
Hawaii Bar Association's report
Circuit Court nominee Ted Hong defended his qualifications yesterday, saying a critical Hawaii Bar Association report unfairly represents his qualifications.
In preparation for tomorrow's Senate hearing on Hong's nomination to the 3rd Circuit Court in Hilo, Bar Association President Dale Lee briefed Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, Judiciary Committee chairwoman, telling her yesterday that the bar found Hong "unqualified."
Hong was nominated by Gov. Linda Lingle to the 3rd Circuit Court in Hilo.
Hanabusa (D, Nanakuli-Makua) said the bar association would recommend against Hong's appointment.
Hong said yesterday that only 53 out of the 4,300 bar association members responded to the statewide survey.
Of those who responded, Hong said, 28 were in favor of his nomination and 25 opposed. Hong said he was notified by the bar association of the decision last week.
A rule put in place in 2003 calls for the comments about court nominees to be stripped of identifying information so neither the bar association executive board nor the nominee knows who is praising or criticizing the possible judge.
Because he said he was not given copies of the responses and could not see the summary of the comments, Hong said he was forced to "respond to vague references by board members based on hearsay from anonymous sources."
"This is a devastating finding for any lawyer. They are not articulating which guideline they have a problem with, and to put it out there that I am not competent based on one or two of these factors is devastating to someone's professional reputation," Hong said.
Hong is Lingle's collective-bargaining chief and is responsible for negotiating labor contracts with public employee unions. He is also an interim appointee to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents and is a private attorney. Hong, a Democrat, endorsed Lingle in the 2002 election.
Melissa Pavlicek, a bar association member who supports Hong, said she did not respond to the call for comments because she did not think "people would find him anything but qualified."
Since hearing rumors of the bar association's rejection last week, Pavlicek said she sent out an e-mail to attorneys criticizing the bar association's secret process.
Pavlicek urged that the bar association not take a position on the nomination until it can redo its recommendation process. Sixty-five attorneys, including former Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Robert Klein, signed onto Pavlicek's request.
"I think it would be a shame for a process that isn't transparent to tip the scale. It is putting too much weight on something that is flawed. Otherwise we are going to go with a process that can yield a bad result," Pavlicek said.
Members of the Big Island Bar Association are strongly supporting Hong, according to Stan Roehrig, an association member who previously employed Hong.
"He is a superb candidate for the judgeship. He is extremely honest," Roehrig said.
The Big Island bar survey shows that 28 attorneys said Hong was highly qualified, five said he was qualified and one said he was unqualified.
Lingle defended her nominee yesterday, saying the bar association process is raising questions.
"The bar association will have to explain in public," Lingle said. "It will be up to the bar to explain what others see as a very flawed process, considering there have been anonymous e-mails."
Bar Association President Dale Lee has not responded to repeated requests for comment.