HONOLULU – Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald today appointed Summer Kupau-Odo to the District Court of the First Circuit.

Kupau-Odo has been a Co-Litigation Director and staff attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation since May. Prior to that she served five years as a senior associate attorney at the Earthjustice Mid-Pacific Office, and before that was a Deputy Public Defender for eight years. Kupau-Odo previously served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Simeon R. Acoba, Jr. (ret.).

Kupau-Odo is very active in the community and currently serves on the Task Force on Civil Justice Improvement; is a board member for Mental Health Kokua and Honua-Kai West Maui Community Fund; is a lawyer delegate to the U.S. District Court Judicial Conference; and serves as a mentor for the William S. Richardson School of Law’s Enviromentor Program.

Kupau-Odo is a graduate of the William S. Richardson School of Law and was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar in 2004.  She is originally from Maui and is a Lahainaluna High School graduate. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Pepperdine University.

The Chief Justice appoints District Court judges from a list of not less than six nominees submitted by the Judicial Selection Commission. If confirmed by the State Senate, Kupau-Odo will serve a term of six years.