Minutes for December 10, 2003

The Executive Committee of the Litigation Section met on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 at 8:00 a.m., at the Utah Law & Justice Center in Salt Lake City.

Executive Committee members present were:

• Sammi Anderson
• Tracy Fowler
• Ryan Harris
• Deno Himonas
• Wayne Klein
• Elaina Maragakis
• Mike Petrogeorge
• Judge Randy Skanchy
• Dan Steele
• Justin Toth

1. Minutes/Financials. The draft minutes for the November meeting were reviewed and approved (and have been posted on the Section’s Web site). There was a brief discussion of financial matters.

2. Report on CLE Seminars There was a summary report on the success of the November 19 CLE seminar “Evening with the Third District Court.”

3. Supreme Court Approval of Rule Changes Section members were encouraged to submit comments to the Supreme Court on the pending rule changes. The Section decided not to submit a comment letter on behalf of the Section.

4. Brown v. Board of Education Elaina Maragakis led a discussion of the planned classroom discussions of Brown. A date needs to be set in May for the presentations. Several other section members are assisting in the planning.

5. Legislative Liaison Deno Himonas reported that Lee Curtis agreed to serve as the Section’s legislative affairs liaison.

6. Quarterly E-mail Update Deno plans to send the quarterly e-mail to Section members in December, updating them on the Section’s activities and inviting participation in upcoming events.

7. Old CLE Tapes Deno received, from the bar, videotapes of CLE seminars dating back to 1980. There was a discussion of what to do with the tapes that the bar no longer wants to retain. Deno will compile a list of the tapes and distribute it to the Executive Committee. The tapes will be offered to the law schools. If the universities do not want the tapes, they will be offered to any section members expressing an interest.

8. Upcoming CLE Programs

a. The two days of deposition training are set for December 15 and 16. They are ready to go.

b. Dan Steele reported on progress in planning the mid-year bar meeting. The section obtained the first two breakout sessions of the program.

c. Ryan Harris led a discussion on planning for the annual meeting. The section agreed to co-sponsor the plenary session (with a followup breakout session) and to pay half of the speaker’s honorarium (our share will be $10,000). There will be another breakout session with judges. The section will pay the expenses for the judges to be on the panel.

d. The seminar on appellate advocacy we are co-sponsoring will be held in the Spring.

e. There was discussion of interest in sponsoring a seminar on the Olympic bribery trial. Mike Petrogeorge agreed to look into it further.

9. Judge’s Benchbook Ryan Harris distributed a revised questionnaire for judges, including new additions by Judge Skanchy. Members of the Executive Committee agreed to review the questionnaire and make suggestions. The next meeting will discuss a strategy to get the questionnaires completed.

10. Casemaker There was a discussion of plans to add federal cases to the Casemaker database. The bar indicated that the costs for this new library should drop substantially in the coming months so the Executive Committee decided to wait before pushing for its inclusion.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 a.m. The next meeting is set for Wednesday, January 14, 2004, at 8:00 a.m. at the Law and Justice Center.

DATED this 14th day of January 2004.

For the Executive Committee

________/s/________________________

Wayne Klein
Secretary