STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3143

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 626

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2012

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred H.B. No. 626 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE HAWAII UNIFORM COLLABORATIVE LAW ACT,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to enact the Uniform Collaborative Law Act that:

 

     (1)  Authorizes disputants to enter into collaborative law participation agreements signifying interest to resolve the dispute without intervention of a tribunal court or other third-party decision maker;

 

     (2)  Requires parties to a collaborative law process to disclose information fully, candidly, and informally without formal discovery; and

 

     (3)  Subject to certain exceptions, disqualifies attorneys in the collaborative process, and their law firms, from appearing before a tribunal to represent a party in a proceeding related to the collaborative manner.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Commission to Promote Uniform Legislation.  The Judiciary submitted comments.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Uniform Collaborative Law Act standardizes the most important features of the newly developing area of collaborative law practice while being mindful of ethical concerns as well as questions of evidentiary privilege.  In recent years, as the use of collaborative law has grown, it has been governed by a variety of statutes, court rules, and formal and informal standards in different jurisdictions.  This measure provides a comprehensive statutory framework to guarantee the benefits of the collaborative process and bring uniformity to the essential features of that process.  The Uniform Collaborative Law Act encourages the development and growth of collaborative law as an option for parties who wish to use it as a form of alternative dispute resolution.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Changing the effective date from July 1, 2011, to July 1, 2012; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 626, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 626, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

 

		____________________________ CLAYTON HEE, Chair