Article By Michele Muir White

I have been a member of the Hawaii Paralegal Association since moving to Maui from Los Angeles, California in 2004. Because I live and work on Maui, I have not had an opportunity to take advantage of the lunch-time seminars offered by HPA. The recent amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as they relate to electronic discovery prompted my attendance at the HPA Education Conference which was held on April 20, 2009 at the Plaza Club, in Honolulu.

The conference featured 16 seminars covering topics such as litigation electronic discovery issues, real estate easements, IRS Section 1031 exchanges, elder law, probate, divorce issues and proceedings, internet, legal research and technology. Attendees caught up on issues affecting legal professionals as a community.

Attendees were greeted by an array of delicious breakfast choices, including pastries, fruit, coffees, and juices. After breakfast and welcoming speeches, we broke out into our individual practice area seminars. I attended the litigation e-discovery seminars, and was brought up to date on strategies and practices for responding to e-discovery and managing electronically stored information (ESI). Real life litigation scenarios were discussed and analyzed, as well as the implications of a party’s failure to comply with the new rules of the FRCP as they relate to ESI. Discussions centered on mandatory initial disclosure of electronic discovery, including the possibility that a party who fails to disclose pertinent electronic format case information at the early stage  may be prohibited to disclose it later. Equally daunting is the prospect of monetary sanctions being awarded by the court for a party’s failure to comply with the electronic discovery rules and/or for spoliation of evidence. The presenters made it clear that the courts are treating the FRCP amendments seriously and are awarding heavy-duty sanctions. Here are some examples. Qualcomm, Inc. v. Broadband Corp., 2008 WL 66932 (S.D. Cal. Jan. 7 2008) (vacated in part): Sanctions awarded for Qualcomm’s failure to produce tens of thousands of relevant e-mails. The court initially sanctioned Qualcomm $8.5 million and referred six outside attorneys for investigation by the California State Bar for ethical violations. U.S. v. Phillip Morris USA, Inc., 327 F.Supp.2d 21 (D.D.C. 2004): High-ranking employees’ non-compliance with a court order addressing evidence preservation and with the company’s retention policies. The court precluded all individuals who had failed to comply with the retention policy from testifying in any capacity at trial, and ordered a fine of $2,995,000.

After our morning sessions, conference attendees enjoyed a beautifully prepared and delicious lunch. There were so many different dishes to choose from, it was difficult to believe I was attending an educational conference. The luncheon keynote speaker was the distinguished Honorable David A. Ezra, who spoke on how to effectively and successfully prepare attorney/paralegal fee applications. Judge Ezra is a staunch supporter of professional paralegals and provided the membership with glowing comments regarding how experienced, professional paralegals support and enhance the legal community. The Hawaii Paralegal Association also thanked its exhibitors and sponsors for their generous support and contributions:  Kroll Ontrack, Parasec, Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, Professional Image, Five Star Legal and Compliance Systems, and Westlaw.

HPA also installed its 2009-2010 newly elected officers and directors:  President/NFPA Primary, Karen Mason, Vice President/Treasurer, Nicole “Kaliko” Siu, Secretary/NFPA Secondary, Shanon Sue, Job Bank, Kelly Glover, Membership, Mary Monden, Publication, Rae Ann Takehiro, Pro Bono, Evelyn Gomez, Professional Development, Ronell Badua, Standards, Elton Johnson, and Board Advisor, Cheryl Yuen. The Board also thanked all of its past officers and directors for their outstanding support and contributions.

After lunch, Judge Ezra gave seminar attendees a candid and intimate presentation about “Life After the FRCP and the Growing Roles for Paralegals in e-Discovery.” Most importantly, Judge Ezra stressed the importance of compliance with the FRCP and gave the attendees his personal insight that judges are now required to enforce non-compliance of the e-discovery rules and sanction counsel for failure to comply and/or spoliation of evidence. No longer can attorneys be computer-illiterate. Counsel must be in direct contact with their client’s IT staff to quickly become familiar with particular systems used by clients. Paralegals may play a key role in “translating” ESI issues to attorneys who are less comfortable with technology.

The day was summed up by a cocktail reception hosted by Professional Image.

Because of the county and state budget cuts, I had feared that my request to attend the conference was going to be denied. To my surprise, my request was granted and I will be sharing all of the invaluable information I gleaned from the conference with my attorneys and co-workers. The HPA education conference offered me vast networking opportunities, but also offered a venue to gain useful information to help me keep my skills relevant in our fast-paced, ever-changing global environment. I was delighted to finally meet the officers, directors, members, and supporters of the Hawaii Paralegal Association, and I found the content of every seminar I attended to be excellent. The Hawaii Paralegal Association is a well-oiled machine. The education conference was well-organized and relevant, and it provided HPA members continuing legal education certificates for their seminar attendance.

 

Michele Muir White is a paralegal with the County of Maui, Department of Corporation Counsel, Litigation Department, and has been a paralegal since 1986. Prior to working for Maui Corporation Counsel, she was a senior paralegal with Bingham McCutchen, Riordan & McKinzie, and Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott in Los Angeles, California.