The conference of the National Association of Hearing officials was the final stop on the Jim Gerl 2011 tour. The conference was held in mid November at the historic La Fonda hotel in beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The meeting was a great opportunity to see old friends and to meet other hearing officers. The educational sessions were top notch and the participation by the New Mexico justice system was very helpful.
NAHO is an organization of administrative hearing officers. It includes representatives from welfare agencies, DMVs, unemployment agencies, workers comp agencies, special education agencies, retirement boards, condo associations, environmental protection agencies, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Parole Commission, and everything in between. It is a good mix of people who do all sorts of hearings. The conference is a great opportunity to talk to others who do administrative hearings and to learn from what they do.
I have served on the faculty of the NAHO annual conference for the last seven years. This year I presented three sessions. The first was my favorite How to Conduct an Administrative Hearing. The second was Dealing With Difficult Lawyers and Parties. The last on was a Nuts & Bolts Approach to Due Process. My sessions were well attended and those who attended actively participated. They went well.
A subsequent post will cover some of the other sessions.