Education
University of Oregon, School of Law, J.D.
Luther College, B.A.

Practice Areas
Corporate & Business
Labor & Employment
Real Estate
Finance
Hospitality

Bar & Court Admissions
Northern Mariana Islands
Oregon (inactive)
Iowa (inactive)
U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

Business Formation and Restructuring. Assisted numerous corporations and LLCs in preparing documentation and obtaining licenses to operate in Saipan. Prepared articles of incorporation and bylaws, registration, professional licenses and foreign corporation registration.

Acquisitions and Sales. Represented corporations in stock and asset sales and purchases. Includes advising on the structuring of the transaction, preparing all required documentation, structuring financing arrangements, and handling various post-closing matters.

Employment Law. Represents a wide variety of business owners and managers on daily operations and policy issues. Helps to prevent litigation through writing and interpreting management policies and employee hand books concerning personnel matters, including hiring, firing, promoting, payment of wages, overtime, and benefits. Conducts EEO training. Emphasis is on compliance and documentation.

Employment Discrimination Litigation. Represented resort hotels on charges of discrimination based on national origin. Successfully showed that client practices were based on non-discriminatory legitimate business reason. Hiring and promotion practices touched upon CNMI labor laws regarding local hire requirements. Saved client significant sums in potential penalties. Represented numerous clients in successfully defending EEOC charges.

Shopping Center and Hotels. Represented shopping center and hotels in preparation of master leases and negotiation with tenants for commercial leases for retail use.

Leases. Represented foreign developers in preparing long-term land leases for resort hotel, shopping center, office, and industrial purposes. Extensive dealings with the Department of Public Lands. Experience with the legislative approval process for long-term public land leases.

Mortgages. Represented both local and Japanese banks financing developments in Saipan with leasehold mortgages, loans, notes, and title report interpretations.

Immigration. Assisted companies in petitioning USCIS for CNMI-CW1 status for their guest worker employees to allow them to work in the CNMI.

Unionization. Represented Hafadai Beach Hotel in first unionization campaign in CNMI. Litigation touched upon complex issues of CNMI labor and immigration laws with respect to non-resident workers. Assisted client in interpreting NLRB application of U.S. laws, and potential conflicts with CNMI Covenant with the U.S. Represented employer in negotiating collective bargaining agreement with union.

Land Article XII Litigation. Successful representation of Hotel Nikko Saipan and other landowners in defense of multiple lawsuits pending in the Northern Mariana Islands arising out of application of a Constitutional provision limiting acquisitions of real property to persons of Northern Marianas descent.

• CNMI Bar Association
• Legal Counsel, Hotel Assoc of NMI
• Society for Human Resources, Founding member and past president
• Saipan Chamber of Commerce
• International Association of Gaming Advisors, Member