THE ROBING ROOM

Judge Kurren's proved to be wanting both in terms of temperament and in terms of scheduling. I once waited outside Judge Kurren's courtroom for a scheduled conference after I had flown to Oahu from a neighboring island. While I was waiting, I received a phone call from Judge Kurren's courtroom manager informing me that the Judge had canceled the conference with zero notice and NO explanation. This Judge clearly has an anti pro se bias, and he therefore strongly admonished us against proceeeding pro se. In fact, the Judge's discouragement intimidated the co-plaintiff into withdrawing from the case during the conference. Fortunately, the co-plaintiff later changed her mind. Apparently, in Judge Kurren's courtroom, 'equal justice under law' does not apply to plaintiffs who either cannot afford representation or who, through exigent circumstances--as in our case--cannot obtain adequate representation. Despite this high hurdle, we persevereved and outlasted Judge Kurren who 'partially' retired. Our case was then reassigned to Magistrate Judge Mansfield who assisted us in achieving a settlement, something we are confident Judge Kurren would not have done in our case.