Minutes for January 11, 2006

The Executive Committee of the Litigation Section met on Wednesday, January 11, 2006 at 8:00 a.m. at the Utah Law & Justice Center in Salt Lake City.

Executive Committee members present were:

• Sammi Anderson
• Bruce Badger
• Jared Casper
• Lee Curtis (by speakerphone)
• Jon Hafen
• Ryan Harris
• Judge Dino Himonas
• Wayne Klein
• Elaina Maragakis
• Willis Orton
• Bryan Pattison (by speakerphone)
• Michael Petrogeorge
• Scott Reed
• Jackie Rogers

In addition, Nate Alder attended as a liaison from the Bar Commission. Sean Monson and Dan Steele were excused.

1. Minutes The minutes were reviewed and approved.

2. Financial Report Dan Steele was unable to attend the meeting and will give a financial report at the February 2006 meeting.

3. Welcome to New Members The Committee accepted the nomination of George Burbidge, Ryan Frazier and Scott Reed to serve on the Committee. On behalf of the Committee and Section, Elaina Maragakis welcomed these new members. Appreciation is expressed for their willingness to serve.

4. Amendments to Bylaws On behalf of the Bylaw Amendment Subcommittee, Wayne Klein led a discussion regarding the Subcommittee's proposed changes to the Bylaws. Each proposed change was discussed and approved, modified or rejected by the Committee. The Bylaw Amendment Subcommittee will circulate a redline version of the amended bylaws at the February 2006 meeting. Thanks to the members of the Subcommittee for their hard work.

5. Governmental Relations Committee As the Committee liaison to the Governmental Relations Committee, Ryan Harris led a discussion regarding Senate Bill 16 (Amendments to State Antitrust Act) and House Bill 70 (Amendments to Statute of Limitations for Assault and Battery). After discussion of the contents of both these proposed bills, the Committee determined that it would not take a position on either bill. Ryan will report this back to the Governmental Relations Committee at the next meeting.

6. NITA Trial Seminar Judge Dino Himonas led a discussion regarding a proposed $200 per day stipend for Utah faculty members who participate in the seminar. The Committee approved this expenditure.

7. Update on Annual Convention Mike Petrogeorge reported that the Section will present a breakout on the topic of e discovery. Mike also raised the possibility of hiring a legal writing expert to present four different breakouts. The retainer for that expert would be $4,000 plus travel expenses. There is a possibility that the Young Lawyers Division and Appellate Section would be interested in co-sponsoring and assisting with the cost. The Committee authorized Mike to move forward with attempting to schedule the legal writing breakouts, and with attempting to solicit funding and co-sponsorship from the Young Lawyers Division and Appellate Sections.

8. Update on Creation of Law Student Division Jon Hafen reported that he and Sammi Anderson will meet during the month of January 2006, and will be in a position to report back to the Committee in February 2006. Once Jon and Sammi have met, they will coordinate with Elaina Maragakis regarding the upcoming reception for first year law students.

9. Upcoming CLE Seminars

a. Senior Lawyers Section Luncheon - January 17, 2006. Tenth Circuit Judge Michael McConnell will speak on separation of church and state. With the exception of forwarding the invitation to its members, the Section has no involvement.

b. Welcome/Question and Answer Luncheon for Newly-Appointed Judge Carolyn McHugh - January 20, 2006. Co-sponsoring with Appellate Section. Committee has agreed to fund up to one-half of the event. Appellate Section expects costs to be minimal.

c. Litigation Training with Roger Dodd - The date of the event has been changed to February 8, 2006. The Section is co-sponsoring this event with the Utah State Bar. Because of a potential conflict with the February 15, 2006 Quarterly Luncheon, this event may serve as the February 2006 Quarterly Luncheon.

d. Quarterly Luncheon - Mike Petrogeorge reported that the Bar is concerned with the potential conflict between the Litigation Training with Roger Dodd seminar and the Quarterly Luncheon with Jan Smith. Elaina agreed to discuss with Jan the possibility of postponing her presentation on cross examination until the May 2006 Quarterly Luncheon. If Jan is amenable to that idea, the Litigation Training with Roger Dodd event will also serve as the February 2006 Quarterly Luncheon.

10. Update on Quarterly E-mail Elaina Maragakis reported that there were some technical difficulties involved in sending the Quarterly e-mail to the Section in December 2005. She is working with the Bar to hopefully resolve these glitches in the future. In the meantime, some members of the Section have received the e-mail, while others have not.

11. Benchbooks Ryan Harris reported that no additional Bench Books have been submitted since the last meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:24 a.m.

Dated this 8th day of February, 2006.

For the Executive Committee

Sammi Anderson
Secretary