Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has appointed Henry T. Nakamoto as judge of the District Family Court of the Third Circuit (County of Hawaii).

Nakamoto has been a partner in the Hilo firm of Nakamoto, Okamoto and Yamamoto since 1996. Prior to joining the firm in 1992 as an associate, he was an associate with the Honolulu law firm of Goodsill, Anderson, Quinn and Stifel, from 1989 to 1991. Nakamoto is a civil litigator who specializes in family law, real estate law and estate planning. He has served as a custody evaluator, guardian ad litem and special master for the Third Circuit Family Court, and as an arbitrator for the Court Annexed Arbitration Program.

Nakamoto received his law degree from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco, in 1989. He is active in professional, public and community service organizations. He served as President of the Hawaiʻi County Bar Association in 2000, and currently serves as a parent member of Waiakea Intermediate School’s Community Council and as president of the Waiakea High School Foundation, a position he has held for nearly ten years.

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, Nakamoto 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, Nakamoto may serve in the District or District Family Courts.