Blunder to plunder: Costs mount in Wonder concert scam

Outside legal fees for the University of Hawaii have now topped $100,000 in the Stevie Wonder concert fiasco, where $200,000 was lost to a suspected concert-booking scam, and the former athletics director was reassigned to a special job for hundreds of thousands a year.

As least three separate outside law firms have collected $105,000 as follows:

* According to documentation previously released by UH, the university agreed to pay $30,000 to the attorney of former athletics director Jim Donovan as part of a settlement after he was put on paid leave during an investigation.

* New documents released Thursday show that investigation, and report on it, by the law firm Cades Shutte cost $50,000.

* And the university has retained the firm Torkildson, Katz, Moore, Hetherington & Harris for $25,000 to, among other things, help the university prepare for a Senate hearing next week on the Wonder blunder.

Lawmakers want answers

"I’m sure that will be a point of discussion come Monday at the hearing in terms of why were those fees assessed,” said Sen. Jill Tokuda, member of the Senate Special Committee on Accountability. “What were those attorneys doing for the university?"

According to UH spokesperson Lynne Waters: “UH retained Torkildson, Katz for a scope of services including: assisting the university in the investigation of the concert aftermath;helping the university respond to the substantial senate committee information requests and preparing for the briefing; and preparing and advising on responses to public and media inquiries…The university hired outside counsel because of the potential conflict of interest involving one or more members of the Office of General Counsel."

The Office of General Counsel is the in-house legal team already costing the university $1.16 million dollars for an up-to 8 person staff and expenses annually. UH says there are 6 working there now. The Cades report cited General Counsel staff among those who worked on the Wonder concert.

"I would speculate that it was really to make sure that from a legal perspective, the university was covering its bases,” Tokuda said, regarding the outside attorney expenses. “This is a very complicated matter from an investigative standpoint, there was a lot that would have to be involved even in preparing for a very public testimony process."

Meeting on Monday

It’s a process that is set for Monday afternoon before the state Senate Special Committee on Accountability, which asked for testimony from UH President M.R.C. Greenwood, UH Board of Regents Chairman Eric Martinson, Vice Chairman James Lee, fact finders from Cades Shutte law firm, former Manoa chancellor Virginia Hinshaw, Stan Sheriff Center manager Rich Sheriff, and Donovan.

Senators say it will be a systemwide accountability discussion, not just about athletics and the concert.

"A lot of the instances that have been going on recently surrounding the concert, and other things, have really led to an erosion of confidence of the public trust,” Tokuda said. “I think these meetings will be about bringing the university forward. What led to this situation, and secondly making sure this never happens again."

The hearing takes place at 1 p.m. Monday at the state Capitol in Room 211.