More than 270 people attended the 2012 Hawaii Access to Justice Conference – JUSTICE IN JEOPARDY: Expanding Access to Justice in Challenging Economic Times sponsored by the Hawaii Access to Justice Commission on Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the William S. Richardson School of Law. It was another successful conference with keynote speaker, Martha Minow, Dean of Harvard Law School and Vice Chair on the Legal Services Corporation board. Dean Aviam Soifer and Robert LeClair served as co-emcees for the conference.
The Legislative Forum facilitated by Dean Soifer featured Senator Clayton Hee, Senator David Ige, and Representative Marcus Oshiro.
The morning concurrent workshops were led by Professor Calvin Pang on “Implicit Bias: An Obstacle to Access to Justice,” with panelists: Justin Levinson and Mari Matsuda; and by Bob LeClair on the “Strengths and Limitations of Pro Bono,” with panelists: Associate Justice Sabrina McKenna, Bill Hunt, and Regan Iwao.
There were five concurrent workshops for the first afternoon session:
- “Overcoming Disability Barriers” facilitated by Louis Erteschik and Jean Johnson
- “Innovative Strategies to Enhance Civil Justice” facilitated by Associate Justice Simeon R. Acoba, Judge Ronald Ibarra, Representative Della Au Belatti, Judge Ronald Ibarra, and Derek Kobayashi
- “Aging, Family Dynamics, and Caregiver Dilemmas” facilitated by Professor James Pietsch, Dr. Lenora Lee, and Professor Michael Cheang
- “Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Barriers” facilitated by Christine Kubota and Dew Kaneshiro
- “Native Hawaiian Legal Issues” facilitated by Camille Kalama, Derek Kauanoe, and Sharla Manley
For the second half of the afternoon, the five concurrent workshops included:
- “Limited Scope Representation and Expansion of Roles” facilitated by Judge Trudy Senda, Janet Hunt, and Victorialei Nohea Nakaahiki
- “The Foreclosure Crisis Update” facilitated by Tracey Wiltgen, Steve Levins, James Paige, and Jo Ann Uchida Takeuchi
- “Issues Immigrants Face” facilitated by G. Gary Singh, John Robert Egan, and Tatjana Johnson
- “Effectively Communicating with Low-Income Clients” facilitated by Judge Joel August (ret.) and Russ Awakuni
- “Ongoing Housing Crisis” facilitated by Judge Hilary Gangnes, M. Victor Geminiani, and Delia L’Heureux
Dean Minow and Justice Acoba presented their thoughts on highlights and future directions at the final session. Justice Acoba observed:
The Commission has proposed, initiated, coordinated, and evaluated numerous ATJ initiatives. I believe the Commission has succeeded in many of its initiatives because by and large, the constituent members of the Commission have been unified in purpose, and concerned beyond the interests of their own organizations, with the overall progress of ensuring equal justice for all. . . . So, in closing, is justice in jeopardy? I think not–if we move in the direction of agreement of purpose, goodwill, cooperation, and commitment to effectuating the rule of law for all, as we have in the past. This is the direction we should take going forward, to ensure that justice will not be in jeopardy in the future.
2012 agenda for the 2012 Access to Justice Conference
Chief Justice Recktenwald’s Opening Remarks at the 2012 Access to Justice Conference
Keynote address by Dean Martha Minow
Remarks of Justice Simeon Acoba at the 2012 Access to Justice Conference