More than 50 people attended the December 7 opening ceremony of the Access to Justice Room at the Ronald T. Y. Moon Judiciary Complex in Kapolei, Oahu.

After remarks by Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, Senior Family Court Judge R. Mark Browning, and Steve Hartley, past president of the Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) Family Law Section, the Chief Justice recognized the attorney volunteers, pictured below, saying, “I’d like to thank the members of the bar, particularly the HSBA Family Law Section, who have committed to staff this center on a volunteer basis. They represent the highest ideals of the legal profession, and are true public servants.”

Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald and Senior Family Court Judge R. Mark Browning (fourth and third from the right) thanked
the Family Law attorneys volunteering to staff the Access to Justice Room. The attorneys who attended the ceremony are,
from left: Dyan Mitsuyama, Carol Tribbey, Richard Diehl, Jackie Thurston, Seth Harris, Marianita Lopez, Mari Kishimoto,
Elsa McGehee, Steve Hartley and Elizabeth Paek.

The Room is open on the first and third Thursday of every month from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Appointments are made for the clinic through the Hòokele Self Help Desk on the first floor of the Kapolei Courthouse. Walk-ins are also accepted during clinic hours.

The Room, which provides limited legal assistance to unrepresented litigants involved in a civil case in the Family Court, is a joint effort of the Hawaii State Judiciary, the Hawaii State Bar Association and the Family Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association.

The Hawaii State Judiciary now has Access to Justice Rooms or self-help centers in every circuit in the State.

Several judges attended the ceremony (from left to right): Judge Sheri Iha, Judge Catherine Remigio, Judge R. Mark Browning,
Judge Derrick Chan, Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, Judge Jennifer Ching, Judge Lanson Kupau, Judge Barbara Richardson
and Judge Christine Kuriyama.