Appellate Practice

Meeting Minutes: October 2005

In attendance: Kenneth A. Bronston (Chair); Tawni J. Sherman (Chair-Elect); Jeanne B. Inouye (Secretary/Treasurer); Kate A. Toomey (Council Member); and Lori J. Seppi (Council Member)

Action Items:

1. Review of David Frederick’s CLE presentation. Committee members agreed that the presentation was very useful and expressed the desire to sponsor additional programs with presenters of national stature. To facilitate cost/benefit evaluation, Jeanne will contact Arnold Birrell to seek details of costs incurred by the section and income from tuition.

2. Next year’s calendar. Tentative programs include the following:

a. Presentation by a professor of logic. Lori will talk with Troy Booher, lawyer and part-time philosophy professor about this matter. She will indicate that we are only in a planning phase. Tawni will find out whether Ruggerio Aldisert, who has written a number of books including Logic for Lawyers, accepts speaking engagements and, if so, track down his contact information.
b. Panel of court clerks and administrators on “behind-the-scenes” matters that may have importance for appellate practitioners. Possible presenters are Mattie Branch, Pat Bartholomew, Lisa Collins, and an appellate judge or justice. Kate will make contacts.
c. “Star of the Appellate Bar” CLE. Tawni volunteered to approach Michael Zimmerman about inviting Seth Waxman for our September 2006 "Star of the Appellate Bar" CLE.
d. Presentation on habeas petitions. Ken will contact Tom Brunker about possible presenters.
e. Panel of staff attorneys about their work and their suggestions for appellate practitioners. Ken will contact Karen Thompson. Suggested dates are Thursday and Friday, March 16 and 17, and Monday and Tuesday, March 20 and 21, 2006.
f. Meet the judge presentation. Ken will contact newly-appointed Judge Carolyn McHugh about a luncheon meeting on Friday, January 20, or Tuesday, January 25, 2005.
g. Presentation on professionalism standards. Tawni will contact Justice Michael Wilkins, who has written an article for the bar magazine on this topic. Suggested dates are Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, April 12, 13, or 14, or Thursday or Friday, April 20 or 21, 2006.
Note: All members making contacts for programs should first check with Ronna Leyba at the bar, who is responsible for facilities, to ascertain availability of rooms for presentations.

3. Assistance for appellate practitioners who are new or who have questions. Kate will contact Frank Carney and the Utah Trial Lawyers to find out how their assistance program works.

4. Section participation in bar meetings. Kate suggested that the section might provide service to the bar and attract additional membership to the section by sponsoring presentations at bar meetings. Ken will approach Fred Voros about making a presentation at the bar meeting in Newport Beach in July. Alternatively, Diana Hagen and Kate Toomey might serve as presenters. The committee agreed, voting 4-1, that it would be appropriate for the section to cover the costs associated with sponsoring a presenter—perhaps somewhere around $700. 1

5. Audio streaming. Ken will investigate the possibility of making live audio-streaming of oral arguments available to all interested persons through the bar’s website. Jeanne offered to assist, as needed. Ken has spoken with Toby Brown, director of communications for the bar, and Lincoln Mead, webmaster for the bar, who helped set up audio-streaming that is now being accessed by the Office of the Attorney General. He has also spoken with Kim Allard, director of information services for the Administrative Office of the Courts.

6. Ex-officio committee member. Judge Norman Jackson, who has served as an ex-officio member of the section’s executive committee, recently retired. Ken will contact Judge Gregory Orme to see whether he is available to serve or, if not, if he can recommend an appellate judge who may be willing to serve.

7. Next meeting on Wednesday, December 14, noon, at the bar offices. Bring a brown bag lunch.

Information Items:

1. Ken would like, at a future time, to reevaluate mission statement.

2. The section attempted a few years ago to prepare an appellate practice primer. The project apparently lost steam when it became clear that it was a bigger, more demanding project than it had appeared. Ken suggested that we might want to try again, fleshing out the checklist at the end of the appellate rules.

3. Upcoming bar meetings:

a. November 11, 2005. Fall Forum. SLC.
b. March 9-11, 2006. Mid-year Meeting. St. George.
c. July 12-15, 2006. Annual Meeting. Newport Beach, CA.

1. Following the meeting, Ken ascertained that the cost would more likely be $1000. Committee members voted 4-1 by email to approve that amount.