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Chief Justice Appoints James S. Kawashima as Oahu District Court Judge

Posted on Jun 1, 2016 in Press Releases

HONOLULU, HI – Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald has appointed James S. Kawashima to the District Court of the First Circuit (Island of Oahu). He will fill the vacancy created as a result of the appointment of the Honorable Shirley M. Kawamura to the Circuit Court of the First Circuit.

Since 2010, Kawashima has served as a per diem judge of the District Court of the First Circuit, presiding over civil and criminal cases. He has also maintained a private legal practice at James S. Kawashima, Attorney at Law, the firm he established in 2002.

Between 1992 and 1996 Kawashima served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the Special Prosecution Unit of the Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney. He went on to serve as a Deputy Attorney General in the State of Hawaii Department of the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud Control Unit from 2004 to 2006.

Kawashima worked at private law firms in both Hawaii and California for more than 12 years, handling litigation in construction, bankruptcy, and employment cases, as well as insurance defense.

Kawashima is a graduate of the University of Southern California Law Center and was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar in 1992. He also has federal court admissions in the Ninth Circuit Districts of Hawaii, Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern California.

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, Kawashima will serve a term of six years.

For more information, contact the Communications and Community Relations Office at 808-539-4909 or via email at pao@courts.hawaii.gov.

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