Court bars legislator from practicing law for 3 months

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts Writer

Alex Sonson, a private lawyer and a state representative for Waipahu, is being suspended by the Hawai'i Supreme Court from the practice of law for three months because of ethical violations, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel announced yesterday.

Sonson

"I take full responsibility for my actions and will cooperate fully with the decision of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel," Sonson, 45, said in a written statement. "I would also like to apologize to my clients and to my constituents for these errors, and I want to assure them that it will not happen again."

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel, a state Supreme Court agency that enforces the Hawai'i Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyers, said Sonson's ethical violations under the rules include misappropriating a client's funds.

Those violations related to Sonson's representation of a man contesting an immigration judge's decision ordering the man's removal to the Philippines, according to Jeffrey Portnoy, a Honolulu lawyer appointed to hear Sonson's disciplinary case.

Sonson received $4,000 in cash payments from the client in 1999 and 2000, but instead of being placed in a trust account, the cash was spent on office and other expenses, Portnoy reported.

Portnoy said Sonson blamed his staff for failing to deposit the man's cash into the trust account, but at one point accepted responsibility for the failure.

Sonson paid the man back $3,088, the $4,000 minus attorney fees, taxes and costs, but the trust account did not have any money belonging to the man, Portnoy said.

The $3,088 was partly from "earned fees," which are supposed to go to the lawyer, a violation of the rules governing attorneys, Portnoy said.

Portnoy recommended a four-month suspension, but the disciplinary board's recommendation to the high court was for three months.

The high court also ordered Sonson to pay the disciplinary board for the costs related to the case. The high court will later determine that amount.

Sonson, who was admitted to the Hawai'i bar in 1993, is a graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law. He defeated a Republican challenge in November to be re-elected to a second two-year term.

Sonson has been designated chairman of the House's Human Services committee.

House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Hts., Palolo, Wilhelmina Rise) said the suspension is "a private issue he has to address" and would not have an impact on his legislative duties.