President's Message

March 2024

Jesse Souki

Hawaii State Bar Association President

Aloha HSBA Members,

First off, welcome to our new executive director, Cathy Betts! Your Board approved her hiring at its last Board meeting. You can learn more about Cathy here.

March has a few big days that most in Hawaiʻi celebrate: Girls Day (March 3), St. Patrick’s Day (March 17), and Easter (March 31). I just learned about another day of recognition, National Working Moms Day (March 12).

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Working Moms of Milwaukee debuted the first annual Working Moms Day on March 12,” in 2020. Among other things, the founders wanted to shed light on childcare. Working parents can appreciate the challenges of finding childcare, especially lawyers who work long days with many deadlines. In order to bring your A-game, the last thing you want is to be worried about the health and safety of your family.

I remember how challenging it was for us to find childcare. Here are some tips. First, word of mouth really helped. Ask around your office. Ask fellow lawyers. As a new parent, I was hesitant to ask at first, but you’ll find that parents are happy to share. Second, balance price with location. You might pay more for daycare within walking distance from your office, but there is a hidden cost to having to leave work early to sit in traffic. Third, ask questions. Treat your potential daycare like an interview. How many staff? How old are the kids? What time is pickup? What if I come late? There are many resources out there, but PATCH, the state’s designated Child Care Resource & Referral Agency, is a good starting place.

Fourth, try a flexible schedule. Every office has its own culture when it comes to schedules. I’ve heard all kinds of schedules from fellow lawyers, parents and non-parents alike. Some start early, take a break to ferry the kids to their events, and then pick up the work at home for a few hours. New technologies that didn’t exist just 10 years ago make it possible to be productive just about anywhere you can find WiFi and noise-canceling earbuds. Speaking of making your practice more efficient by leveraging technology, check out the HSBA Member Benefits page. From legal practice management tools to travel benefits, you’ll find products, tools, and services from companies that have agreed to provide HSBA member discounts.

Before I sign off, I wanted to thank all those who are volunteering their time to engage in HSBA activities and improve the profession for our members. I hear that our former president, Levi K. Hookano, has reinvigorated the CLE Committee, which helps make relevant and timely content available to our members. I also want to thank our Legislation & Public Policy Committee, headed by Michael Iosua, for keeping us on time with testimony on legislative items approved by the Board. These include bills that aim to keep our courts safe and investments in facilities to keep them functioning properly.

Mahalo and stay safe!