CHIEF JUSTICE APPOINTS DISTRICT AND DISTRICT FAMILY COURT JUDGES

News Release from Hawaii Judiciary, Mar 18, 2022

HONOLULU – Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald today appointed two individuals to fill judicial positions in the District and District Family Courts of the First Circuit.

Shellie K. Park-Hoapili has been appointed to the District Court, replacing retired Judge Michael Tanigawa. She is currently employed as the Hawaii Supreme Court Staff Attorney, a position she has held since 2012. Prior to that, she was an associate attorney at Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing (now Dentons US LLP) from 2005 to 2012. She also served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Paula Nakayama from 2003 to 2005. Park-Hoapili graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law, and was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar in 2003. Born and raised on Hawaii island, she grew up in Hilo and attended Waiakea High School.

Throughout her career, Park-Hoapili has served on numerous local and national boards and committees. She is currently the president of the Hawaii Women’s Legal Foundation and a former president of Hawaii Women Lawyers.

Natasha R. Shaw has been appointed to a newly-established position in the District Family Court. She is currently employed with the Law Office of Natasha R. Shaw, LLLC. Shaw has served as a Per Diem Judge in the District Family Court of the First Circuit since 2019, and as a Kokua Kanawai and Special Master for the Probate Court and the Circuit Court. She was a law clerk for Chief Judge Colleen Hirai in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit in 2009. Shaw graduated from Stetson University College of Law, was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2008 and admitted to the Hawaii State Bar in 2010.

Throughout her career, Shaw has been active in the community, volunteering for organizations such as Make a Wish Foundation, American Judicature Society and the Korean American Bar Association of Hawaii, where she served as President in 2017.

The Chief Justice made his appointments from the nomination lists that were presented to him by the Judicial Selection Commission on February 18, 2022. Both appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.

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