Berkeley

We must decide whether to enforce an arbitration award which grants over $7 million in attorneys’ fees to an attorney notwithstanding his ethical improprieties.

I

Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. (“AEPCO”) is a rural electric cooperative, headquartered in Benson, Arizona. Berkeley is a lawyer licensed in Washington, DC, who specializes in regulatory matters pertaining to the production, sale, and transportation of natural gas in interstate commerce.

During the 1970s, AEPCO produced electric power with natural gas-fired equipment. AEPCO purchased its natural gas through the City of Willcox, Arizona (‘Willcox”), which acquired it from the region’s sole supplier, El Paso Natural Gas Company (“El Paso”). The energy crisis of the 1970s prevented El Paso from providing adequate supplies of natural gas to its customers, including AEPCO and Willcox. Consequently, AEPCO hired Berkeley to represent it in proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”). Because Willcox was a necessary party to these proceedings, AEPCO retained Berkeley to represent Willcox as well. Prior to 1979, AEP-CO paid Berkeley on an hourly basis.

In May 1978, while AEPCO’s…