On June 28, 2019, Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii held an appellate CLE to promote Hawaii Appellate Pro Bono Program.
The Appellate Pro Bono Program is a partnership between the HSBA Appellate Section and VLSH. The Program matches low to moderate pro se appellate litigants with attorneys willing to provide pro bono representation in Hawaii’s state appellate courts. The Program currently covers certain substantive legal areas: foreclosure, summary possession, employment discrimination, workers compensation, state tax appeals, wrongful termination, unemployment benefit denials, family law (divorce, child custody, child support, and paternity), and probate.
Attendees of the CLE program who also agree to volunteer for the program will receive free CLE credit when they take on a case. Regardless of whether attendees agreed to volunteer, they received valuable appeal advice from the panel that included this blogger, fellow appellate attorney Deirdre Marie-Iha (of the Goodsill law firm), and Hawaii Supreme Court Justice Sabrina McKenna.
Some tips and advice from Justice McKenna included (among many provided by the panelists):
- The HAWSCT’s decision whether to accept certiorari are completely discretionary and the requirements for certiorari listed in HRS) 602-59(b) are requirements for the writ only – not necessarily the requirements for whether or not the HAWSCT will accept a case.
- In your application for certiorari, mention all issues/arguments as to why the lower courts erred – even if only in a cursory manner with a single citation to authority, and even if you do not elaborate on the issue. The HAWSCT will not (generally) review an issue that has never been raised.
- The HAWSCT is current accepting approximately 1/3 – 40% of cases on certiorari.
Anyone interested in volunteering need not have attended the CLE event, and the Appellate Pro Bono Program is actively seeking volunteers. Please contact Volunteer Legal Services Hawaii, or this blogger at rebecca@copelandlawllc.com if you are interested in joining the program as either a volunteer or a volunteer mentor.
Social Media