OfficeOFGENERALCOUNSEL

On July26,2021,the Office of General Counsel ("OGC") wasestablished via Supreme Court Order No. 2021-ADM-0011-MSC.OGCismade up of General Counsel Hyun Jae Lee,DeputyGeneral Counsel Matthew J.Brown, and Paralegal MaryBernadette Glass.OGCcontinuesto fulfill itsdutiesand responsibilitiesunder the NMI Supreme Court to provide a broad spectrum of advisorylegal functionsand to oversee variouslegal issues affecting the court system and itsadministration on Saipan,Rota,and Tinian.

The OGCoverseesall legal mattersof the Judiciary. Itsresponsibilitiesinclude providing legal advice on a wide varietyof legal issuesaffecting court system and administration,including but not limited to, state and federal compliance (including ADA,FLSA, FMLA,Title VI and VII of the Civil RightsAct of 1964, EEOClaws); contract and grantsmanagement, procurement,capital improvementsand personnel matters; researching and formulating legal opinions and making recommendationson a wide varietyof legal concernsfaced byand impacting the Judiciary and itsofficialsand employees; reviewing court rules,ensuring legal sufficiency,and recommending changes,if any,to the Supreme Court; reviewing and authoring court policiesand procedures; researching and drafting legal memoranda and lettersfor the Office of Chief Justice and the Supreme Court; reviewing and standardizing legal formsfor use by court officialsand personnel; providing and reviewing the applicabilityof proposed and enacted local and federal legislation; conducting education and training programsfor justices,judges,staff and the publicon applicable local,federal,and Judiciary rules,policies,and regulations; assisting in judicial education and ethics; and providing support,oversight, and legal advice to Judiciarycommittees,task forces,and work groups.

In 2022,OGCwasinstrumental in providing guidance,assistance,and support in all ARPAexpendituresand reviewing compliance for all procurement and contract close-outsfor major modernization projects,including eRecording for the Commonwealth Recorder'sOffice,eCourtsCase Management System,and on-call A&Eservices. OGC,among other duties,authored and reviewed 46 competitive bidding documents,negotiated and reviewed 10 contracts,reviewed over 250 HRdocuments, drafted and reviewed 31 ARPACommittee meeting minutes,and drafted and compiled the Judiciary'sbudget request and the HVACprogressreport.

Conferences

NAMEOF TRAINING/ PRESENTATION

ARPAtraining session byDeputyGeneral Counsel Matthew J.Brown to provide an overview of the Final Rule issued bythe U.S.Department of the Treasuryvia MSTeams

ARPApresentation on Courtroom Technologyby General Counsel Hyun Jae Lee at the Bench

LAPPtraining conducted byGeneral Counsel Hyun Jae Lee to new Judiciarypersonnel

LAPPtraining conducted byDeputyGeneral Counsel Matthew J.Brown to new Judiciary personnel via MSTeams

NMI Judiciary'sEEOPolicyTraining Session 1 conducted byGeneral Counsel Hyun Jae Lee

NMI Judiciary'sEEOPolicyTraining Session 2 conducted byDeputyGeneral Counsel/EEOOfficer Matthew J.Brown

StrategicPlanning Presentation at the Annual Professional Development byGeneral Counsel Hyun Jae Lee and Acting Director of Courts/Deputy General Matthew J.Brown

Meetings

In 2022,OGCattended a total of 383 meetings,which included meetingsfor different committeessuch asthe ARPALeadership, ARPACapital Improvement Projects, ARPACommittee, e-Recording Project,eCourtsProject,HVACand Mold Remediation Project,Cultural Day Planning Committee,Professional Development Planning Committee,Goal 5 Committee,Elevator Project,and GrantsCommittee.

General Counsel Hyun Jae Lee conducted a five-daysite visit to Hawai'i State Judiciaryin December,2022.The five-dayvisit consisted of court observationsand informational interviewswith judges,court,staff,and relevant stakeholdersof the Hawai'i State Judiciary.

The site visit confirmed the Judiciary'scompliance with manyfederal mandatesrelated to equal accessand equal opportunity,including language assistance,ADA, and equal employment.

Improvementsto the court'sequal accessprogramscan be achieved byproviding professional interpreter training to court interpretersfrom a trained professional; implementing standardized testing for court interpreters; improving interpreter training to include hands-on workshops; implementing court navigation programstargeting LEPand ethnically marginalized populations; and through the implementation of other specialty courts-- in particular,communityoutreach courts-- to resolve caseswhile providing humanitarian servicesto the community. Another area of improvement isthe family court division,which hasthe highest foot traffic.

Improvementsto the court'sEEOpolicycan be made with the adoption of sensitivitytraining and a hands-on guide for employees.