United States Magistrate Judges of the United States District Court of Hawaii

• Publication year: 2021

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGES OF THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT OF HAWAII

By Edward Kemper

In the United States District Court, District of Hawai'i, there are currently three United States Magistrate Judges: Chief Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield, Magistrate Judge Rom Trader, and Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter. This article provides their collective responses to questions about practice before a United States Magistrate Judge.

Background

Judge Mansfield was appointed on April 1, 2016. Prior to his appointment, Judge Mansfield was the Co-Managing Partner of McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP, where he practiced law for nineteen years. Prior to that, Judge Mansfield was a civil litigator at Greenbaum Rowe Smith & Davis in New Jersey. Judge Mansfield's private practice focused on commercial litigation, health care, insurance coverage and bad faith, and government contracting.

Judge Trader was appointed as a Magistrate Judge in January of 2019. Prior to joining the federal bench, Judge Trader served nearly ten years as a trial judge in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit, assigned to both civil and criminal calendars. Prior to his judicial career, Judge Trader spent twenty years as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the City and County of Honolulu. Judge Trader received his BA in Economics (1984) and his law degree (1987), both from the University of Hawaii.

Judge Porter was appointed as a U.S. Magistrate Judge by the district court judges in April 2019. Before joining the court, Judge Porter was an educator, primarily as a full-time law professor in San Francisco, and a trial attorney representing the United States. In practice, he served as a Senior Trial Attorney with the Department of Justice, Criminal Division's Fraud Section, an enforcement attorney with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an Assistant U.S Attorney for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii, and a Judge Advocate General for U.S. Navy stationed in Pearl Harbor.

1. Please describe your role as a United State Magistrate Judge.

United States Magistrate Judges serve in federal district courts throughout the country. You will hear Magistrate Judges referred to as "MJs" around the courthouse. Yet, in other court systems, a "magistrate" has a different background and serves in very a different function. It is best to use Magistrate Judge, Judge or MJ in federal court.

MJs primarily assist the district judges by handling the case management, discovery, and mediation and settlement of civil cases filed in the district, as well as preliminary hearings and warrant approvals in federal criminal matters.

The federal judiciary created MJs to assist District Judges with the growing workload in federal court. In Hawaii, the MJs also assist the parties throughout a civil case with scheduling dates and deadlines, discovery disputes, consent jurisdiction, and continued settlement discussions throughout the case.

3. How much time do each of you spend on average on criminal matters as opposed to civil matters?

In the District of Hawaii, our three MJs handle criminal matters on a rotating monthly duty schedule. Because we continue to work on civil matters during the criminal duty month, less than a quarter of our time on average is spent on criminal matters.

4. In certain situations, the Magistrate Judge can be the trial judge in a civil case. If so, what are the procedures? If you are the trial judge and make a decision who would hear an appeal if a notice of appeal is filed?

Under our Local Rule 73.1, a Magistrate Judge may conduct all phases of a civil case including jury or non-jury trials. Because it is based upon the agreement of the parties, this practice is commonly referred to as "consent" or "consenting" to a Magistrate Judge.

To consent to all proceeding handled by the magistrate judge under LR 73.1 (a), the parties should file the completed AO Form 85. To consent to a specific matter such as attorney's fees applications, the parties should file the completed AO Form 85A. The district website also includes "How To Guidance" about consenting to a magistrate judge. If all parties consent, the MJ then has the same jurisdiction over a civil case or matter as the District Judge. Any matter ruled on by a Magistrate Judge by consent must be appealed directly to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(3); Fed. R. Civ. P. 73(c).

Our local rules governing consenting to a MJ are among the most flexible in country. The parties in a civil case may consent to any of the three MJs in the district, at any time in the litigation (although, we each agree that earlier is typically better for the parties and the court). Beginning with the challenges of the pandemic, we each discuss consent with the parties at the opening scheduling conference and encourage the attorneys to speak with their clients about consent. Parties should consider that district judges are assigned both civil and criminal cases, and criminal cases are given a calendar priority. MJs are not assigned felony criminal trials and do not "double book" their trial calendars; thus, magistrate judges may be...