Guam Bar Association rejects proposal to allow limited outside employment

It's no secret many have been jumping ship since the Guam attorney general came into office at the beginning of the year. There's been a steady decline in lawyers for years. Now in an attempt to boost recruitment efforts, the AG is making a request to the legislature to allow his lawyers limited outside employment. 

The Guam Bar Association recently rejected that proposal.

A lack of lawyers, not just to defend but to prosecute. "We do not have enough attorneys," simply said Doug Moylan, the attorney general of Guam. "When I came into this office, we did not have enough attorneys. 20 years ago we didn’t have enough prosecutors. It’s gotten worse, because there’s not enough prosecutors on guam. You can ask public defenders and any private practitioner. They’ll tell you there’s not enough lawyers on Guam."

He admitted attorneys have also been leaving since he came into office, adding, "It’s been having to fit between the people’s elected attorney general, who’s here to fight crime to make us safe at night and the willingness of our staff to participate and join me in this four-year journey that we have."

In a move to increase manpower, he requested the Guam Legislature to amend public law to reallow his attorneys limited outside employment.  In a letter to Speaker Therese Terlaje, he says it’s to "restore equity" with public defender and alternate public defenders attorneys, who have no such restriction. 

"We’ve been recruiting off-island. I'm thinking maybe we have three coming in, but I mean, it's a moving target," Moylan said.

In the letter, he says several possible recruits from on- and off-island decided against employment with the AG's Office as they had lingering cases.  His request has prompted the Guam Bar Association to survey its members if they agree or disagree with it. 

According to a release from GBA president Attorney Jacquelyn Taitano Terlaje, the survey recorded 133 responses, with 64% disagreeing.

Comments disagreeing includes increased conflicts and ethical complications, divided loyalties between obligations to  government interests and private clients, imbalance of powers and undermining the community’s faith in the legal process and system of justice, increased abuse of power and corruption, and that the proposed legislation misstates or misrepresents the current law.

Meanwhile, 34% agreed to the proposal with the comments, including recruitment and limited supply of attorneys, ethical concerns and additional income for government attorneys.

For the time being, Moylan says the lack of lawyers is causing an increase in market prices, putting a heftier financial burden on the people who need a private attorney and on firms paying a higher salary to retain them. 

Perhaps more alarming: it’s also impacting the criminal justice system. "When I see a defendant that comes in for a judge that is in the criminal justice system going towards trial that gets released and gets brought back into the court system by the Guam Police Department on another magistrate complaint, another case, another crime victim, that requires more personnel on my end," said Moylan.