2008 RESOLUTIONS
RESOLUTION
NO.
2008-01
TOPIC: ADOPTION OF COMMUNITY WIDE ACTION PLAN
SUBMITTED BY: STANDARDS
COMMITTEE
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui carried out a statewide assessment of the civil legal
needs of low and moderate-income residents of Hawai‘i and in November 2007
released a report entitled Achieving Access to Justice for Hawai’i’s People; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui found that since 1989 the number of people living below
125% of the federal poverty guideline in Hawai‘i has grown 28% to 156,321 and
the population living between 125% and 200% of the federal poverty guideline
has grown 19% to 143,877; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui found that one quarter of Hawai‘i’s
residents live below 200% of the federal poverty guideline; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui found that families living at 200% of the federal
poverty guideline in Hawai‘i are not able to cover their basic living expenses,
much less to pay for legal assistance when it is needed; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui found that only one in five low and moderate-income
Hawai‘i residents have their legal needs met; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui found that nonprofit legal service providers are able
to help only one in three of those who contact them for assistance; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui found that in Hawai‘i there is one legal service
attorney for every 2,291 persons living below 125% of the federal poverty
guideline and one legal service attorney for every 4,402 persons living below
200% of the federal poverty guideline as compared to one private attorney for
every 361 persons in the general population; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui found that significant barriers to obtaining legal
assistance in addition to inability to afford an attorney include language and
cultural barriers, lack of knowledge of one’s legal rights, lack of knowledge
of available legal services, and difficulty in accessing legal services
programs; and
WHEREAS, the Access to Justice Hui released in November 2007 an action plan to increase
equal access to justice in Hawai‘i, entitled The Community Wide Action
Plan: Ten Action Steps to Increase
Access to Justice in Hawai‘i By 2010; and
WHEREAS, the Ten Action Steps include creation
by the Hawai‘i Supreme Court of an Access to Justice Commission to oversee and
coordinate statewide efforts to expand access to justice for low-income people,
increasing and stabilizing public and private funding for legal service
providers, increasing pro bono contributions by attorneys (including by having
legal service providers expand programs that encourage pro bono service),
increasing the collaboration among legal services providers and the efficient
use of their collective resources, developing ways to remove impediments to
access to justice and increasing outreach and public awareness;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:
The Community Wide Action Plan: Ten Action Steps to Increase Access to
Justice in Hawai’i By 2010, as released in November 2007 by the Access to Justice Hui (the “Plan”), is hereby adopted and approved in its
entirety by the Hawai‘i Paralegal Association (the “HPA”) on January 7, 2008.
The creation of a Hawai‘i Access to
Justice Commission or similar entity is hereby determined to be essential to
improving access to justice in the short and long term, and achievement of this
action step shall be supported by the HPA because the
prompt formation of a Commission will expedite and increase the likelihood of
successful implementation of the other nine action steps of the Plan.
Obtaining additional and reliable
public and private funding to support the delivery of civil legal services to
low-income people in Hawai‘i is of fundamental importance and shall also be
supported by the HPA, including without limitation supporting the adoption by
the Supreme Court of the State of Hawai‘i of a “comparability” requirement to
increase the interest rates paid on IOLTA funds.
The Standards Committee of the HPA
is hereby directed to review the Report and the Plan in detail, identify each
respect in which the HPA might act to contribute to the achievement of the
steps set forth in the Plan, and then present to the Board of Directors, as
promptly as possible, a strategic plan setting forth the specific steps that it
is proposed that the the HPA take, as well as a
timetable for such actions, to contribute to the achievement of the action steps called for by the Plan as
promptly as practicable.
Appropriate
representatives of the HPA, as shall be determined by its Board of Directors,
are hereby authorized to participate actively in or otherwise support the
ongoing work of the Access to Justice Hui and/or the
Access to Justice Commission (or similar entity) and to report regularly to the
Board on the activities of the Hui and the
implementation of the Plan and of the strategic steps taken by the HPA to
support achievement of the action steps called for by the Plan.
RESOLUTION NO. 2008-02
TOPIC: Processing
of Membership
Applications During Last Quarter of the Calendar Year
SUBMITTED BY: Cheryl Yuen, President and Membership
Director
WHEREAS, the HPA Board of Directors
("Board") of the Hawaii Paralegal Association ("HPA")
recognizes the need to update the existing Guidelines pertaining to new and renewing
membership applications received in the last quarter of the calendar year;
WHEREAS, the Board recognizes that members
whose applications are processed after October 15th of the calendar year are
charged $25.00 for membership through December 31st of that calendar year;
WHEREAS, Section 7.10 of the HPA By-Laws
and Resolution 97-5 provide that voting, associate, student and sustaining
members are required to pay annual membership dues in an amount established by
the Board.
WHEREAS, the Board recognizes the need to
accept all qualified applicants interested in joining HPA;
WHEREAS, the Board intends to accept annual
membership dues from qualified applicants at the time they apply for
membership;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that:
1) Members whose applications are
processed after October 15th of the calendar year will be charged the amount of
the annual dues established by the Board, which will include membership through
December 31st of the following year, but will be added to the membership mailing
list of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations ("NFPA")1 in January of the following year.
2) NFPA benefits will begin on January 1st
of the following year;
3) HPA voting rights will begin on January
1st of the following year;
4) HPA and NFPA benefits will expire on
December 31st of the following year;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that:
1) This
Resolution will become effective: (a) upon approval of the HPA Board of
Directors and (b) upon ratification by the membership at the 2008 annual
meeting; and
2) The HPA Guidelines shall be amended
according to this Resolution.
1 This Resolution 2008-2
shall also apply to any other national association HPA may join in the future.
RESOLUTION NO.
2008-03
TOPIC:
MEETINGS OF MEMBERS
SUBMITTED
BY: STANDARDS COMMITTEE
WHEREAS, the
Statutes, Chapter 414D, took effect
on July 1, 2002;
WHEREAS, HPA
is a domestic nonprofit corporation;
WHEREAS, the
Board of Directors intends to amend its Bylaws to
be consistent with the current laws of
the State of
Section 414D-104(a), -111(d), and
-113.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Bylaws Article 10
shall be amended to read as follows.
Bracketed material is deleted.
Underscored material is added.
SECTION 10.9. Quorum. At
any meeting of members for which
proper notice has been given, fifteen
percent (15%) of the total voting members
of the corporation present in person
or by proxy (provided that ten percent (10%)
of the voting members must be present
in person) shall constitute a quorum, and
the concurring vote of a majority of
the members constituting a quorum shall be
valid and binding upon the corporation,
except as otherwise provided by law, by
the articles of incorporation, or by
these bylaws.
Unless
one-third or more of the voting members are present in
person
or by proxy, the only matters that may be voted upon at a meeting
of
members are those matters that are described in the meeting notice.
SECTION 10.10. Voting.
(a) Each voting member shall be
entitled to one vote either in
person, by written ballot, or by proxy at
meetings of the members of the
corporation.
(b) Any written ballot shall be
submitted to Secretary of the
corporation within the time period prescribed
for the return of that particular
ballot to be deemed valid.
(c) The authority given by a voting
member of another voting
member to represent such member at
meetings to the members shall be in
writing, signed by such member, shall be
filed with the Secretary. An
appointment
of proxy is effective when received by the Secretary or other
officer
or agent authorized to tabulate votes. No proxy shall be valid after the
expiration of eleven (11) months from the date
thereof unless otherwise provided
in the proxy provided
that no proxy shall be valid for more than three years
from
its date of execution.
Every proxy shall be revocable at the pleasure of
the member executing except as
otherwise provided by law.
Appointment
of a proxy is revoked by the person appointing
the
proxy by attending any meeting and voting in person, or signing and
delivering
to the Secretary or other officer or agent authorized to tabulate
proxy
votes either a writing stating that the appointment of the proxy is
revoked
or a subsequent appointment form.
(d) Cumulative voting shall not be
allowed.
SECTION 10.12. Consent of
Members in Lieu of Meeting. Unless
otherwise provided in the articles of
incorporation, the bylaws, or in any
applicable statute, any action which could be
taken at a meeting of the voting
members may be taken without a meeting,
without prior notice, and without a
vote, if a written consent is signed by
at least [a majority of fifteen percent
(15%)]
eighty percent (80%) of
the voting members, provided that the Secretary
mails to all voting members at their last
recorded address the exact language of
the consent. The consent as mailed by
the Secretary must also include a
postmark deadline of not more than
forty-five (45) days in which the signed
consent must be returned. Notice of the
results of the consent effort shall be
published to all members within thirty (30)
days of the postmark deadline date for
the
return of the signed consent forms
RESOLUTION NO.
2008-04
TOPIC:
COMMITTEES
SUBMITTED
BY: STANDARDS COMMITTEE
WHEREAS, the
Statutes, Chapter 414D, took effect
on July 1, 2002;
WHEREAS, HPA
is a domestic nonprofit corporation;
WHEREAS, the
Board of Directors intends to amend its Bylaws to
be consistent with the current laws of
the State of
Section 414D-148.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Bylaws Article 15
shall be amended to read as follows.
Underscored material is added.
SECTION 15.1. Creation and
Powers. The Board of Directors may
create, appoint, and abolish such general
or special committees or other bodies
of any kind as the business of the
corporation may from time to time require and
define the authority, duties, and duration
of such committees or bodies, except
that such committees or bodies shall not
have the power to remove directors or
fill vacancies on the Board of Directors
or on any of its committees; authorize
distributions;
approve or recommend to members dissolution, merger, or
the
sale, pledge, or transfer of all or substantially all of the corporation’s
assets;
adopt, amend, or repeal the Articles or Bylaws; or any such other
powers as may be reserved to the members
or the Board of Directors by statute,
the articles of incorporation, these
bylaws, or otherwise.
Each
committee shall have two or more directors. The creation
of
a committee and appointment of members to it must be approved by the
majority
of all the directors in office when the action is taken.
RESOLUTION NO.
2008-05
TOPIC:
RESIGNATIONS & REMOVAL OF MEMBERS &
DIRECTORS
SUBMITTED
BY: STANDARDS COMMITTEE
WHEREAS, the
Statutes, Chapter 414D, took effect
on July 1, 2002;
WHEREAS, HPA
is a domestic nonprofit corporation;
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors
intends to amend its Bylaws to
be consistent with the current laws of
the State of
Sections 414D-89,
-137, and -138.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Bylaws Articles 7 and
16 shall be amended to read as
follows. Bracketed material is deleted.
Underscored material is added.
SECTION 7.9. Removal of
Members. Any member may be
removed as a member of the corporation, [with
or without cause,] by
the
affirmative vote of a majority of all of the
members of the corporation at the time
of the vote, not including the person
whose removal is the subject of the vote.
Any member may withdraw from the
corporation at any time upon giving written
notice to the Secretary of the
corporation.
The
member subject to removal must be notified in writing, by
first
class or certified mail sent to the last known address shown on the
corporation’s
records, not less than 15 days before the expulsion,
suspension
or termination and the reasons therefor, and shall be
given an
opportunity
to be heard, orally or in writing, not less than five days before
the
effective date of the expulsion, suspension or termination by a person
or
persons authorized to decide that the proposed expulsion, termination,
or
suspension not take place.
SECTION 16.1. Resignation.
Any director or officer may resign
their position by submitting a written
notice of resignation to the President and to
the Secretary of the corporation.
A
resignation is effective when the notice is effective, unless
the
notice specifies a later effective date. If a resignation is made effective
at
a later date, the board may fill the pending vacancy before the effective
date
if the board provides that the successor does not take office until the
effective
date.
SECTION 16.3. Removal.
The members of the corporation may at
any time by a majority vote of all
voting members depose or remove from office
with or without cause, any director,
officer, subordinate officer, employee, or
agent.
A
director elected by members may be removed by the
members
only at a meeting called for the purpose of removing the director
and
the meeting notice must state the purpose, or one of the purposes, of
the
meeting is removal of the director.
The Board of Directors may at any
time by a majority vote, but with
cause only, remove from office or
discharge from employment any director,
officer, subordinate officer, employee, or
agent appointed by the Board of
Directors or by
any person under authority delegated by the Board of Directors.
A
director appointed by the Board may be removed without
cause
by the vote of two-thirds of the directors then in office, provided that
a
director appointed by the Board to fill the vacancy of a director elected
by
the members may be removed without cause by the members, but not
the
Board.