Opinion ID: 2614643
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background Litigation Between the Complaining Witness and the Attorney

Text: This saga began when the Complaining Witness and Respondent Attorney terminated a long-term personal and professional relationship in which the Complaining Witness had worked as an investigator for the Attorney and, on occasion, had been represented by the Attorney. The Complaining Witness threatened to sue the Attorney and his firm. [2] In the fall of 1996, the Complaining Witness and the Attorney agreed to submit various claims against one another to arbitration. [3] The Complaining Witness and the Attorney agreed to an arbitrator and the arbitration commenced. The Attorney submitted a lengthy witness list in the arbitration. The Attorney's witness list included Disciplinary Counsel and two ODC investigators. The Complaining Witness objected to the inclusion of disciplinary personnel, citing Rules 2.8 [4] and 2.22 [5] of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Hawai`i (RSCH). The Complaining Witness and the Attorney submitted Statements of Claims to the Arbitrator. [6] The Attorney asserted various claims against the Complaining Witness under headings that included misrepresentation, defamation, false light, invasion of privacy, intentional or negligent interference with economic relationships, abuse of process, malicious prosecution, intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress, and fraud. The Attorney's claims were framed in sixty paragraphs alleging, in sum, that the Complaining Witness had made various false or misleading statements to others about the Attorney and the Attorney was damaged thereby. Among the sixty paragraphs were three paragraphs asserting that the Complaining Witness had transmitted false statements to ODC. The Complaining Witness objected to claims based upon evidence of his complaints to ODC. The Complaining Witness argued, in part, that RSCH 2.8 precluded any claim based upon the Complaining Witness's statements to ODC. The Attorney argued, in part, that he was not precluded from asserting such claims because the Complaining Witness had disavowed that he was making a complaint to ODC, indicating instead that he was merely reporting his concerns about the Attorney's fitness to practice. The Arbitrator ruled that the Complaining Witness's statements to ODC were privileged. The Arbitrator granted the Complaining Witness's motion to strike claims based upon the Complaining Witness's statements to ODC, but concluded evidence concerning the statements was admissible as evidence of the Complaining Witness's state of mind and to corroborate other allegations by the Attorney against the Complaining Witness. The arbitration proceeded and was settled in December, 1996. The information available in the record before us indicates the confidential settlement resulted in the mutual releases of all claims and the payment of money by the Complaining Witness and his insurer to the Attorney.