Idaho bar files complaints against three attorneys

The first legal action against individuals involved in the University of Idaho's failed Boise real estate development was taken Monday as the Idaho State Bar filed formal conflict of interest complaints against three Idaho attorneys.

Roy Eiguren and L. Edward Miller of the Boise firm Givens Pursley face at least a public reprimand and at worst disbarment if found guilty of professional misconduct for representing the UI, the University of Idaho Foundation and developer Civic Partners simultaneously.

Eiguren, a graduate of the UI, also served as vice president of the foundation's board of directors during University Place's development in 2001 and 2002.

The third attorney, Ryan Armbruster of the Boise firm Elam & Burke, has already admitted he violated bar association rules and has been issued a public reprimand.

A three-person tribunal will determine if Eiguren and Miller erred by representing more than one entity involved in the development of University Place, according to State Bar Executive Director Diane Minnich.

But a Seattle attorney representing Givens Pursley said one of the bar association's own rules permits attorneys to represent more than one client involved in a project like University Place.

"They proceeded under an express rule of the Idaho Bar that permitted contemporaneous representation of two sophisticated clients like this," Brad Keller of the firm Byrnes and Keller said of Eiguren and Miller. "They ensured that the clients consented in writing and were advised of the pros and cons in writing."

A message left with Armbruster Monday afternoon was not returned.

Minnich said the Idaho Supreme Court will appoint the tribunal, two lawyers and one nonlawyer, within the next two weeks. The case will then proceed like a normal trial, she said, with the panel acting as judges. The panel can enforce the lightest penalty, a public reprimand, itself. The Supreme Court must enforce the more drastic steps of censure, suspension or disbarment if recommended by the panel.

"If the court chooses to change (the recommended penalty) to something else they think is more appropriate, they can do that, and have been known to do so," Minnich said.

The bar association is pushing for suspension for a period of at least 30 days.

Independent federal and state investigations are looking into whether crimes were committed when the foundation used restricted scholarship funds to finance University Place's development. Originally planned as a $136 million, three-building satellite campus, University Place fell apart with the economy in 2003.

The discovery that year of unauthorized loans from the UI to the foundation also helped the project to an early grave. The project's collapse led to the resignation of UI President Robert Hoover and the UI's chief financial officer, Jerry Wallace.

Only the $43 million Idaho Water Center was built.

Eiguren and Miller each face four separate counts in the bar association complaint, three for conflicts of interest and one for not providing diligent representation and exercising professional judgment.

According to the complaints, Eiguren simultaneously represented the foundation, which was financing and orchestrating University Place, and one-time project manager Civic Partners, a California-based developer. Eiguren also worked for the UI during that time as counsel to UI legislative lobbyist Marty Peterson and was paid $30,000 a year.

Eiguren's third conflict arose from his volunteer work as the foundation board vice president, the complaint said.

The complaint against Miller listed similar conflicts, with him representing both Civic Partners and the foundation, the UI, or all three.

Keller said Givens Pursley stands by the work Eiguren and Miller did on University Place.

"It's very unfortunate that this proceeding was initiated, but the firm and the individual attorneys are extremely confident that when they have a hearing in front of an impartial panel they will be fully vindicated," Keller said. "And the finding will be that their actions were entirely appropriate."

An Idaho State Board of Education investigation of the project found mismanagement at several levels in the foundation and the UI.

Eiguren has represented the Lewiston Tribune through his work for the Idaho Allied Dailies newspaper group.

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Mills may be contacted at jmills@lmtribune.com.