How many Samoan lawyers does it take to serve the territory? More than we’ve got, Togiola says

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Sen. Togiola T.A. Tulafono said the number of local Samoan attorneys in private practice has decreased and predicts that in five years time only two or three of them will be members of the American Samoa Bar Association.

Togiola’s statement made at last Friday’s Senate session comes at a time as Samoa News has received concerns from members of the community claiming that there isn’t a sufficient pool of Samoan attorneys to provide legal representation when it comes to local “lands and title” matters.

And of special urgency, is that such matters require intervention of the court.

Togiola informed senators of the issue of importance pertaining to local attorneys, saying that many American Samoans who graduate from this specialized profession have opted to use their degrees to work in other fields.

The senator said there are serious issues pertaining to the decline in the number of local Samoan attorneys, predicting that in the next five years, there will be only two to three Samoan attorneys registered with the American Samoa Bar Association.

According to the former governor, many law firms in the territory are palagi and others from off island. And there is a decline in the number of longtime veteran Samoan lawyers, leaving only a few — such as himself, and Roy J.D. Hall Jr. — the latter has returned to government service, while other Samoan attorneys are judges and unable serve in private practice.

Togiola said the need for more Samoans serving in the legal professional is very high and spreading fast. (Samoa News notes that Hall is currently the Deputy Attorney General.)

Another important issue is that, the Senate — and the Fono — is pushing for the governor to appoint the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the High Court, but with the declining pool of Samoan attorneys, there is critical concern.

And he doesn’t see any Samoans graduating and returning home to serve in the legal field in the near future. He asked the question, “Where are we going to find attorneys to serve on these high posts — chief justice and associate justices” of the high court?

As previously reported by Samoa News, senators approved early February this year, a Senate Concurrent Resolution requesting that the Secretary of Interior delegate her authority to appoint the Chief Justice and Justices of the High Court to the governor, with confirmation by the Fono. (See Samoa News edition Feb. 4 for details.)

Also last month the Constitutional Review Committee, through a majority vote of its members approved a proposal calling for the “Governor” to appoint the Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the High Court “subject to confirmation by the Legislature”. (See Samoa News edition Feb. 17th for details)

At Friday’s session, Senate President Tuaolo Manaia Fruean told senators that the names of three local attorneys would be submitted this week by the Administration for Senate review and confirmation to serve as judge pro tempore — but he didn’t provide more details.

Tuaolo agreed with Togiola’s assessment of the shortage of Samoan attorneys and that this could cause a problem for residents seeking legal representation from those in private practice.

Togiola’s statement on Samoan attorneys surfaced after Sen. Utu Sila Poasa — earlier on during the Senate session — made a verbal request for the ASG Scholarship Board when offering scholarships, to look at specialized fields needed in the territory, such as engineers — not only not civil engineers, but mechanical, electrical and so forth.

From the perspective of a local business owner, Utu said local contracting firms are having a difficult time recruiting Samoans on island with degrees in engineering and have to depend on those recruited from off-island.

Utu acknowledged that these specialized needs are considered under-graduates, but suggested that the scholarship board put emphasis on providing scholarships for students in these fields and offer increased stipends as an incentive to encourage local graduates.

He asked if the scholarship board has a plan to look at offering scholarships in hard to fill professionals for under-graduate students from American Samoa.

(Samoa News points out that what Utu raised has been discussed and talked about in the Fono and by previous administrations over the years, targeting specialized and hard to fill jobs for scholarships. But the biggest issue is the lack of interest from high school graduates to pursue these fields of work.)

Sen. Fai’ivae Iuli Godinet, who is also chair of the scholarship board, said that the areas stated by Utu are the same specialized areas that the board is targeting and has been for some time now. And despite efforts to attract graduating students to go into these fields — there is not much interest from local graduates.

Fai’ivae acknowledged Utu’s statement that these professional fields of work are undergraduate degree programs but reminded his colleagues that the scholarship program only provides some financial assistance not all of the tuition and the program is for high school graduates seeking higher education off island or a two-year degree program at the American Samoa Community College.

The scholarship also provides financial aid to ASCC graduates seeking higher degrees off island, said Fai’ivae added that he will share Utu’s suggestion with the scholarship board, but he points out that changes to the scholarship program come from the governor and the administration.

He also says that many times students don’t meet the criteria to be eligible for the scholarship program and suggested that Togiola share his input on the issue.

Tuaolo told senators that an engineer with Port Administration as well as an engineer with Silva Construction obtained their degree credentials from Manukau Institute in New Zealand. And he suggested utilizing this institute to educate American Samoans in the field of engineering.

Sen. Togiola acknowledged the issues raised by Utu and pointed out that they are not new, they have been raised and discussed in the past. He recommended that the Senate look at ways to change the scholarship program, to include these specialized professional fields.

He said the only way to do so, is to enforce it through appropriate law — providing the number of scholarships for each specialized field. He said the current policy of the ASG Scholarship Fund has been the way it is for many years and has not changed.

And, further noted that another important issue that the Fono should adopt is to make sure there is sufficient funding for the program because this has also been a problem over the years during discussion for scholarships for these specialized fields.

Togiola said he is offering suggestions for the Senate to consider, moving forward. And Tuaolo recommended Togiola draft proposed legislation.

Tuaolo said the question he asks daily is why there are so many Samoan lawyers in Samoa. He said that the only time that there is a non-Samoan on the bench in Samoa is when a matter goes on appeal. And if attorneys from Samoa are recruited, there is local criticism.

Another question, said Tuaolo, is why Samoa has so many engineers compared to American Samoa. He also said that engineers working at McConnell Dowell and Fletcher Construction are also graduates of the Manukau Institute.