Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald today appointed Shirley M. Kawamura and Paul B.K. Wong to the District Court of the First Circuit (Oahu).

Kawamura has served as a per diem judge in both the District and District Family Courts on Oahu since 2010. A former senior felony trial deputy at the Office of the Public Defender, she also previously worked as a commercial and insurance defense litigation specialist at Kawashima Lorusso LLP. She is a 1997 graduate of the Stanford Law Center.

Wong has been a partner at McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP since 2005 and previously worked as a deputy prosecuting attorney for the City and County of Honolulu. He earned his law degree from Boston College of Law School in 1993.

The chief justice appoints District Court and District Family Court judges from a list of not less than six nominees submitted by the Judicial Selection Commission.

If confirmed by the State Senate, the appointees will serve in office for six years. Because the Chief Justice has the discretion to assign judges to the district or district family court calendars, Kawamura and Wong may serve in the District or District Family Courts.

The appointees fill the vacancies of the Honorable William Cardwell and the Honorable Russel Nagata, who retired on December 31, 2011.