Prominent New Zealand lawyer Dr Rodney Harrison has refused to be drawn into a dispute between former clients the Tongan Public Service Association (PSA) and Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva’s office.
PSA head Mele ‘Amanaki, and the Prime Minister’s PA, Po’oi Pōhiva, have issued conflicting claims about the reason for Dr Harrison withdrawing his services from the PSA.
Dr Harrison was invited to comment on the conflicting claims, but declined to do so on the grounds of client confidentiality.
While respecting Dr Harrison’s decision, it should be noted that both ‘Amanaki and Po’oi have chosen to air conflicting versions of what would normally be confidential matters.
We report them as a matter of public interest.
It should also be noted that ‘Amanaki has attacked Kaniva news’s reporting of the issue. While that is her right in a democratic society, we stand by our reporting.
On November 1 we reported that we had learned of a dispute which caused Dr Harrison to stop representing the PSA.
We reported that ‘Amanaki questioned Dr Harrison over lawyer Laki Niu’s legal fees. We also reported that we understood he withdrew his services after she continued to argue with him about the issue.
Our story followed an exclusive interview with Prime Minister Pōhiva and Po’oi Pōhiva in Auckland.
Dr Harrison will still represent Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva in an upcoming appeal case lodged by Tongasat.
It is understood he will also represent former Kele’a newspaper editor Māteni Tapueluelu and former Kele’a publisher Lautala Tapueluelu and two staff from Kele’a newspaper in a related matter.
The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pōhiva and the Public Service Association (PSA) which had fought a five year battle against Tongasat over what it claimed were illegal payments of TP$90 million to the company.
The lawyer for the plaintiffs was Dr Harrison.
As Kaniva news reported earlier, the plaintiffs owed TP$7,025.55 to Niu in legal fees.
The fees stemmed from court cases in 2014 and 2015 in which Niu acted for the PSA.
‘Amanaki told Kaniva news in June that the PSA had planned to ask Dr Harrison to include Niu’s and the PSA’s costs when he negotiated his legal fees with the defendants in the cases. The defendants paid Dr Harrison in 2016.
‘Amanaki claimed Niu submitted his invoice late in 2017, by which time the defendants had paid Dr Harrison’s fees, but not Niu or the PSA’s costs.
Po’oi claims
Po’oi claimed ‘Amanaki wanted Dr Harrison to include Niu’s costs when he negotiated his legal fees with the defendants.
Po’oi claimed ‘Amanaki was “insistent” in the way she argued with Dr Harrison.
He also claimed Dr Harrison argued that ‘Amanaki should have settled the issue herself.
We asked ‘Amanaki on Thursday, November 1, if it was true this was the reason why Dr Harrison withdrew. She did not respond until Sunday night, November 4.
‘Amanaki’s denial
‘Amanaki denied Po’oi Pōhiva’s claim and claimed Harrison withdrew his services because of a dispute over a court case she referred to as CV64.
She claimed the real reason the PSA no longer wanted Dr Harrison to represent them in the Tongasat appeal was because he said he would no longer represent them in another court case, CV49.
‘Amanaki claimed this was because the PSA and ‘Amanaki did not apply to the court to appoint a receiver to collect the costs from Tongasat on court case CV64.
This case stemmed from a lawsuit by Tongasat against PSA, Kele’a newspaper and four staff of the newspaper.
‘Amanaki said Tongasat eventually withdrew its lawsuit and the court ruled in March 31, 2016 that Tongasat should pay costs of TP$41,232.12 to the defendants.
She claimed Tongasat had yet to pay the costs awarded by the court.
She said Dr Harrison suggested they apply to the court to appoint a receiver to force Tongasat to pay their costs and they agreed.
She claimed she suggested that Minister of Police Māteni Tapueluelu process the application and if he refused, they would jointly processed the application.
‘Amanaki claimed that instead, Dr Harrison insisted that PSA do it.
She claimed Dr Harrison said if the PSA refused to lodge the receivership application he would no longer represent them.
‘Amanaki claimed she and PSA pleaded with Dr Harrison to rethink his decision as this was the first time they had hired him to represent them in court.
‘Amanaki claimed Dr Harrison told Prime Minister Pōhiva and Po’oi he would no longer represent PSA and ‘Amanaki on court case CV48 as they had had a falling out.
‘Amanaki claimed she replied to Dr Harrison’s e-mail and let ‘Akilisi and Po’oi know about the dispute.
She claimed she, Prime Minister Pōhiva and Po’oi pleaded with Dr Harrison to change his mind and represented them on court case CV49, but to no avail.
She claimed she and the PSA then told Dr Harrison he would not represent them on court case CV48.
Po’oi’s statement
Kaniva news recorded Po’oi’s statement which is transcribed in Tongan below:
Po’oi made his statement after we asked Prime Minister Pohiva if he was aware that Dr Harrison had decided to no longer represent the PSA and ‘Amanaki in the Tongasat appeal case. Hon. Pohiva said he was unaware of it.
Po’oi than said he did not let the Prime Minister know about the dispute because he did not want him to be worried by such issues.
Po’oi claimed the real reason Dr Harrison pulled out was because of the way ‘Amanaki argued with him about lawyer Laki Niu’s legal fees.
In Tongan Po’oi said:
“Na’e pehe ‘e Mele ia na’e totonu ke hanga ‘e Rodney ‘o fakahu ia ‘i he’ene cost.Ka na’e pehe ‘e Rodney ia na’e ‘ikai ‘oange ha me’a pehe ia ki ai. Pehe ‘e Rodney ia kapau ko ha ‘isiu ia na’e totonu ke settle pe ia ‘e Mele mea fekau’aki mo e me’a ‘a Laki . Lahi ko e hono push atu ko ‘e Mele ‘u me’a ko ia ko e tala mai ‘e Rodney ia ko ‘ene ‘osi ai pee ia he’ikai te ne toe hanga ‘e ia ia ‘o fakafofonga’i ia ‘e ia ia. Ne fu’u lahi pe ne fu’u malohi pe pe ‘ene (Mele) insistence. Ko e malo pe ‘ofa mai ‘a [Rodney] ia ‘o ‘omai ‘ene service he ‘oku quality ia. He ko hono mo’oni pe ‘o na ia. He’ikai fie mole hono taimi ‘ona ia he fakafekiki holo mo e fanga ki’i me’a ko ‘eni ‘oku fele mo e ‘u keisi ia ‘e ma’u ai ‘ene pa’anga ia ‘ana. ‘A ia ko e me’a ia ko e ‘oku pehe ai ko e ‘a Rodney…ko e fo’i ‘isiu pe ko e ‘a Laki. He ne insist atu foki ‘a Mele ia ne totonu ke to’o ia mei he me’a kae tala mai ‘e he palangi ia ko e fe pa’anga ko e na’a mou collect ‘o taumu’a ki he me’a ko ‘eni.”
This translates into English as:
“Mele said Rodney should have included it when he negotiated his cost. Rodney said Mele should have settled Laki’s legal fees herself. The more Mele pushed for it…. Rodney said he would no longer represent her. Mele was being insistent too much. It was thankful that [Dr Harrison] offered his service because it was high quality. The palagi asked where was the fundraising they collected money from to cover for the costs of these court cases.”
The main points
- Prominent New Zealand lawyer Dr Rodney Harrison has refused to be drawn into a dispute between former clients the Tongan Public Service Association and Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva’s office.
- Dr Harrison declined to comment on the dispute on the grounds of client confidentiality.
- While respecting Dr Harrison’s decision, it should be noted that both ‘Amanaki and Pohiva have chosen to air conflicting versions of what would normally be confidential matters.
For more information
Lawyer pulls out of Tongasat appeal as Pōhiva asks: where is money raised for legal fees?
