CAL-ABOTA e-NEWS

| SPRING 2020
Greetings to all in the midst of the most unusual legal situation that we have ever faced. 

The yearly Rancho Valencia meeting that was scheduled for March 20-21, 2020, has been postponed as you know to August 21-22, 2020, at the Pasea Hotel in Huntington Beach. The Executive Committee Meeting will take place on Friday, August 21, from 11:00am to 1:30pm, and the Board Meeting will take place from 2:00pm to 4:30pm on that Friday as well at the Pasea Hotel.

On August 22, 2020, we will have the rest of the board meeting if we need to do so and we will select our Trial Lawyer of the Year at that time. 

The next CAL-ABOTA meeting thereafter will follow during this year’s Hawaii Conference  at the beautiful Mauna Kea Beach Hotel in Hawaii from November 2-7, 2020. The Board Meeting will be November 4, 2020. The Executive Committee will meet from 8:30am to 9:45am. The Board will be meeting from 10:00am to 12:00pm.

We will celebrate the Trial Lawyer of the Year in Hawaii, as well as each of the recipients of the Civility Award from their individual chapters. Also, we will celebrate the recipient of the Community Service Award.

Normally, in this newsletter, I would be able to fill you in on what is happening in each of your chapters and on those chapter meetings which I have attended. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, thus far I have only been able to attend one meeting which was the San Diego meeting.  

Please see further association information below  below as CAL-ABOTA continues to keep working on your behalf.

Sending my best to you and yours; please stay healthy.

Christopher P. Wesierski
President, CAL-ABOTA
SAN DIEGO CHAPTER VISIT
I was able to attend the first San Diego meeting of the year on February 27, 2020, at the beautiful San Diego Yacht Club. At that time, George Brewster who is the current President gave some rousing speeches about their chapter and new inductees who also were present. If you look at the picture of them you will see they are casually awaiting their fate. (In San Diego the new inductees have either napkins or bread rolls thrown at them which is one of their long standing traditions.)

Their Chapter was off to a productive start with multiple events being planned, but some of which now have to be cancelled. Please see photos of the great chapter meeting and the officers and George Brewster as well. 
OTHER CHAPTER MEETINGS
I was scheduled to attend a meeting for the San Bernardino/Riverside Chapter  in April and also scheduled to travel to Fresno to meet with the San Joaquin Valley Chapter, but due to the virus, both meetings had to be canceled. It is my intention to meet with each chapter at some time during the year and spread the CAL-ABOTA word. 
LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR
We were asked to give our approval to a letter that was drafted by California Defense Counsel and Consumer Attorneys of California as well as numerous other organizations in regards to establishing some guidelines to deal with this crisis. Click on link below to see a copy of those recommendations that were given to the Governor which thereafter resulted in an issuance by the Governor to extend statutes of limitation and toll them from March 4, 2020 until 30 days after the Governor's COVID-19 State of Emergency is lifted or upon declaration of the Chief Justice, whichever comes first. Moreover, a deponent no longer has to be present in person and you can now take a deposition by telephone or by other remote electronic means provided certain requirements are met which are contained in the LETTER . 
JAMES OTIS LECTURES
It was the hope of primarily Bryan Reid who was the Chair of this matter along with the undersigned, that we would be able to schedule a James Otis lecture in each of the venues where each of our chapters are located sometime in September. However, because all the schools are now closed, this hope may not come to pass this year, and it may have to be deferred until after January 2021.  
2020 CAL-ABOTA James Otis Lecture Guide
“The Curious Case of Franklin v Adams ”
By Bryan Reid

Earlier this year, the CAL-ABOTA board elected to forego the annual State-wide Teacher’s Law School and instead each chapter committed to present a James Otis Lecture during the month of September, 2020. To carry this out, a subcommittee of the board, working in conjunction with National and the Sacramento Chapter, have drafted a preliminary checklist, timeline, guide and simple fact scenario to assist the chapters in their efforts. The presentation centers around a fender-bender between Franklin and Adams (each with elements of blame) and includes a discussion of the Constitution, right to jury trial, mock jury selection and an interactive exchange with the students.

The recent pandemic, lock downs and stay-at-home orders likely affect our collective abilities to carry out our goal of JOLs during the month of September since contact and coordination with middle schools and/or high schools may prove to be challenging. Nonetheless, the preliminary materials are available and we encourage the chapters to continue efforts to bring ABOTA’s remarkable program to their local schools with a continued goal of all California chapters presenting a JOL to a school during the Fall of 2020.

Members with contact and/or access to local schools are encouraged to work with their local chapter leadership in an effort to identify and coordinate JOL programs for Fall, 2020. Questions and suggestions can be directed to me at Bryan.Reid@lewisbrisbois.com.
HAWAII
The Mauna Kea will be waiting for you this November 2-7, 2020 for the Annual CAL-ABOTA Hawaii Conference  where we celebrate the elected Trial Lawyer of the Year.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION . Flights are reasonably priced at this time and you may want to book your stay now at the Mauna Kea as Wally Yoka has come up with a great list of speakers as well as great entertainment during that week.
CAL-ABOTA TRIAL LAWYER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES BY CHAPTER
California Coast – John H. Howard
Los Angeles – Linda Miller Savitt
Orange County – Eric V. Traut
Sacramento Valley – Dominique Pollara
San Bernardino/Riverside – Michael J. Marlatt
San Diego – Edward Chapin
San Francisco – Cynthia McGuinn
San Joaquin Valley – Dennis R. Thelen 
COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
This award recipient will be announced in August at the CAL-ABOTA Board of Directors meeting.
CIVILITY AWARD WINNERS
Don’t forget to submit to Jennifer@Caladmanagement.com your civility award winner for your chapter to also be honored at the Hawaii Conference.
CAL-ABOTA BUSINESS
conference-call-man.jpg
Normally, we would be having meetings and reporting on the various committees and what those committees are doing. Our Executive Committee has met telephonically on a number of issues but the Board has not been able to meet except telephonically in January.  Because of this large complication in our lives which is the COVID-19 virus, I believe that most of us are wrestling with day to day issues in regards to our firms, and the committee updates can wait. I am going to ask that at the August meeting, all the committees report and provide something in writing beforehand to Jenny Blevins. 

Further, I am going to ask that each chapter report on the virus situation and what has changed in regards to the virus in your jurisdiction along with the normal chapter report. Please stay safe and healthy during this COVID-19 virus. Please reach out to CAL-ABOTA either through me or Jenny Blevins if there is anything we can do to help you in regards to any issue that has come up and which is connected to us.  

We will advise you of another telephonic board meeting which will take place at the end of April or first part of May and I will provide further updates throughout the rest of the year.