MINUTES
HAWAII STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
BOARD MEETING

1132 Bishop Street, Suite 906
Honolulu, HI  96813
Friday, November 16, 2007, 11:30 a.m.

1. CALL TO ORDER

President Jeffrey Portnoy called the meeting to order at 11:40 a.m.  No quorum was present at the time, but was established before the Board took any action.  The following persons were present for all or part of the meeting:

 
Officers Present
Jeffrey Portnoy
Jeffrey Sia
Hugh Jones

Directors Present
Nathan Aipa  (by phone)
Roxann Bulman  (by phone)
Alfred Castillo  (by phone)
Steven Chow
Jackie Erickson  (by phone)
Geraldine Hasegawa
Ronette Kawakami  (by phone)
Carol Kitaoka
Steven Songstad  (by phone)
Jodi Kimura Yi
Nichole Shimamoto

Board Members Absent
Gregory Frey
Robert Godbey
Louise Ing
Janice Kim
Trudy Burns Stone
Suzanne Terada
 
Others Present
Darren Ching
Rai Saint Chu
Joanne Ha’o
Jill Hasegawa
James Kawachika
Catherine Levinson

HSBA Staff
Lyn Flanigan
Iris Ito
Debra White
 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Minutes of the October board meeting were approved by consensus. 

3. TREASURER’S REPORT –  Director of Operations Debra White reported that as of 10/31/07, HSBA is running slightly under budget.  Year-end projection is expected to be positive.  See financial statements distributed at meeting.

4. COMMITTEE/REPRESENTATIVE REPORTS

a. Rule 17 Committee – the Committee continues to meet.

b. Strategic Planning Committee – FYI only (see agenda).

c. Hawaii Idle Lawyers Dinner – at least 325 people expected.

d. Kona Courthouse Committee – FYI only (see agenda).

e. Liaison Committee with Disciplinary Board – Director Steve Chow reported that the Committee had its first organizational meeting on November 7th and plans to meet on a quarterly basis.  Next meeting in January. 

f. Lease Premises – Executive Director Lyn Flanigan reported that the Committee working on the lease premises will do a survey of office spaces available based on HSBA needs.

5. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT – Ms. Flanigan reported that 48 people signed up for the November 15th Casemaker webinar; the next webinar will be on December 13th; a trainer will come to Hawaii in January to provide live training.  She also reported that 465 people attended the bar convention luncheon.  Assistant Executive Director Iris Ito reported that 58 attorneys and 72 judges participated in the November 2nd Bench-Bar Conference.

6. UNFINISHED BUSINESS

a. Practice of Law Definition  (see agenda item 6.a. and Exhibit A) - Consumer Protection Committee Chair Joanne Ha’o agreed to contact Carole Richelieu to discuss the concerns of the Disciplinary Board over the proposed rule.  Ms. Ha’o will attend the December board meeting to explain.

b. Proposed Amendment to Hawaii Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 7.2  (see agenda item 6.b. and Exhibit B) - Ms. Flanigan reported on the meeting held in early November between HSBA, DB, and Supreme Court representatives on a proposed rule change that would allow a percentage fee assessment for not-for-profit lawyer referral services.  HSBA is awaiting an informal opinion from the Disciplinary Board. 

c. Board Procedures on Judicial Appointments – the Board discussed the need to further improve upon the board procedures on judicial appointments.  Board members Steve Chow, Geraldine Hasegawa, and Hugh Jones agreed to review the current board procedures on judicial/executive appointments and present any recommendations to improve upon those procedures.

7. NEW BUSINESS

a. Assessment of $1/member collection fee to VLSH  (see agenda item 7.a.)

Action taken:  A motion was made and seconded to approve the recommendation of the Executive Committee to not charge Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii a collection fee since the Supreme Court entities are not being charged this year.

b. Access to Justice Report  (see agenda item 7.b. and Exhibit D) - Ms. Flanigan reported that the Delivery of Legal Services to the Public Committee Co-chairs Mike Gibson and Jo Kim will come to the December board meeting to discuss the recommendations in the Report.  YLD President Nichole Shimamoto announced that the YLD Board adopted a resolution supporting the Access to Justice Report and urged the HSBA Board to do the same.

c. 2008 Attorney Registration – Ms. Flanigan reported that the Supreme Court has decided that no fee will be assessed for the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection this year. 

d. Correspondence regarding Rule of Law program - President Portnoy is working on a program for May 2008.

e. Article forwarded by Chief Justice Moon on need for civics education - FYI only (see agenda).

f. HSBA Committees for 2008 - FYI only (see agenda).

* g. HSBA Member Inquiry - In response to a Maui HSBA member’s inquiry of doing a disciplinary investigation of comments made in court by another Maui HSBA member, the Board decided to inform him that the Board discussed the matter and determined that the Office of Disciplinary Counsel is the appropriate agency to address this issue.

* Item added to the agenda.
 

8. ADJOURNMENT

 The meeting adjourned at 12:50 p.m.

 

Approved by:
 
Hugh R. Jones
HSBA Secretary