Posted on: Monday, June 21, 2004

Dobelle considers lawsuit

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By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Fired University of Hawai'i President Evan Dobelle has hired high-profile local lawyer Rick Fried, and is considering a lawsuit.

"That is certainly one of the things we are looking at," Fried said yesterday, when reached in Chicago for a brief telephone conversation.

"We're going to have a lot more to say later in the week," he said.

Dobelle, who has been traveling in the Midwest since before he was fired and is expected back in town as early as today, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

In a statement sent to The Advertiser this weekend, Dobelle said he had not yet received official notice of his firing and has not been informed of the reasons for his dismissal.

Fried said Dobelle hired him and decided to make the decision public after learning that the university's Board of Regents had retained outside council, local attorney Barry Marr, who has long specialized in employment law.

"He (Dobelle) needed someone to counsel with," Fried said.

Marr could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Regents Vice Chairwoman Kitty Lagareta said Dobelle has had counsel for several months.

Lagareta said Marr was hired by the board on the advice of university general counsel Walter Kirimitsu after the university learned that Dobelle had hired a different lawyer nine months ago.

She said that after hiring the lawyer, Dobelle applied to have the university pay the lawyer's fee. That request was denied because Dobelle had not followed the required procedure to have the expense approved, she said.

"Even in the beginning of our attempts to communicate with (Dobelle) and have a constructive dialogue," she said, "he brought his attorney into the picture."

Lagareta would not identify the lawyer she said had preceded Fried. The unnamed lawyer was not present at Tuesday's meeting at which the board fired Dobelle, she said.

She said she knew Fried and that she thinks he is a good lawyer. She also said she was glad Dobelle had someone to serve as a point of contact for him.

"Now we have someone we can communicate formally with, and that is good," she said. "His not being here for this last meeting (when he was fired) is not the first time he has surprised us and not been available when we had tough issues to discuss."

Dobelle notified the board by a letter sent to Marr that he had hired Fried, Lagareta said.

Fried has represented clients in a number of high-profile injury and wrongful-death suits in recent years. He is the lawyer for the Navy family whose 5-year-old daughter drowned in a backed-up drainage ditch in February at Pearl Harbor housing and represents the surviving truck driver from a fiery wreck on H-1 in February that may have involved road racing.

He also represents the family of a 3-year-old boy killed Christmas Day while whale watching and the family of a woman killed in October 2000 when off-duty police officer Clyde Arakawa ran a red light while intoxicated.

Fried is likely to retain additional legal assistance with "specialized expertise in several areas" to assist him, according to Dobelle's written statement.

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.