GOVERNOR IGE APPOINTS FIRST CIRCUIT JUDGE TO HAWAI‘I SUPREME COURT

News Release from Office of the Governor, Oct 23, 2020

HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige has appointed Judge Todd W. Eddins as associate judge on the Supreme Court, State of Hawai‘i. The seat has been vacant since Associate Justice Richard W. Pollack retired in June 2020. Gov. Ige selected Eddins from a field of four nominees chosen by the Judicial Selection Commission, Hawai‘i State Judiciary.

“Judge Eddins has the vast knowledge and experience necessary to serve on the Hawai‘i Supreme Court. He has the respect of his peers and I know that he will be a welcome addition to the state’s highest court,” said Gov. Ige.

Judge Eddins was appointed to the First Circuit Court in 2017. He has presided over 85 jury trials and resolved thousands of legal motions. Judge Eddins has also sat as a substitute justice of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court in numerous cases. He has served on judicial committees involving judicial performance, jury instructions, and court rules.

Eddins is a graduate of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia and the William S. Richardson School of Law, where he was executive editor of the University of Hawai‘i Law Review. He is a former law clerk to retired Hawai‘i Supreme Court Justice, the late Yoshimi Hayashi. Eddins also worked as a trial attorney at the Office of the Public Defender before entering private practice where he concentrated on complex criminal, civil, and appellate litigation.

Judge Eddins is a former member of the McCully-Moiliili neighborhood boards. He has coached youth athletics and the Hawai‘i Youth Correctional Facility high school mock trail team. He is married with four children.

Judge Eddins’ appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

The Hawai‘i Supreme Court is composed of a chief justice and four associate justices. Justices are initially appointed for a ten-year term. After the initial appointment, the Judicial Selection Commission determines whether a justice will be retained in office. A justice may not serve past the age of 70.

PDF: Todd Eddins CV 

CB: The 1st circuit judge is expected to join a liberal-leaning majority on the state’s highest court.

  *   *   *   *   *

GOVERNOR TO CONSIDER NOMINEES FOR STATE SUPREME COURT

News Release from Office of the Governor, Sep 29, 2020

HONOLULU – Gov. David Ige has received a list of four nominees from the Judicial Selection Commission, for associate justice on the Supreme Court, State of Hawai‘i. The seat has been vacant since Associate Justice Richard W. Pollack retired in June 2020.

The four nominees are:

Todd W. Eddins has served as a judge with the First Circuit Court since 2017. He has previously worked in private practice, specializing in criminal, civil and appellate litigation. He also worked in the Office of the Public Defender and as a judicial law clerk for the Hawai‘i Supreme court under Justice Yoshimi Hayashi. Eddins earned his BBA from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and his J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He has coached youth athletics and the Hawai‘i Youth Correctional Facility/Olomana High School mock trial team.

David M. Forman is the director of the Environmental Law Program at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He is also a faculty specialist at Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. Previously, Forman worked as interim director, lecturer and pro bono faculty advisor at the law school. He attended Harvard College where he earned a B.A. and later a Graduate Ocean Policy Certificate from UH Mānoa. Forman has a J.D. from UH Mānoa’s William S. Richardson School of Law.

Darolyn Lendio Heim currently serves as a District Court judge in Honolulu. Her first job — a field worker for Del Monte Pineapple in Kunia. She was a staff reporter at Good Housekeeping Magazine and the Wall Street Journal, L.A. Bureau. As an attorney, she worked in private practice, and as an extern for Hawai‘i Supreme Court Justice Yoshimi Hayashi. In addition, Lendio Heim served as director of the Department of the Corporation Counsel, City and County of Honolulu; vice president for Legal Affairs and University General Counsel, University of Hawai‘i System; interim executive administrator and secretary for the UH Board of Regents.

Benjamin E. Lowenthal is a deputy public defender at the Office of the Public Defender in Wailuku, Maui. He has served as a law clerk for the Hon. Judge Corinne K.A. Watanabe, Intermediate Court of Appeals in Honolulu and worked as an attorney in private practice. Lowenthal also writes the column “The State of Aloha” for The Maui News. He attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, Maui Community College and San Francisco State University where he earned his B.A. In 2003, Lowenthal received his J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law.

The public is welcome to submit comments on any of the nominees here.

Gov. Ige has 30 calendar days to make his appointment.

  *   *   *   *   *

Judicial Selection Commission Press Release – Associate Justice, Supreme Court Nominees (Release Date: 09/29/2020)

News Release from JSC, Sep 29, 2020

Under the Constitution of the State of Hawaii, Article VI, Appointment of Justices and Judges, Section 3: “The governor, with the consent of the senate, shall fill a vacancy in the office of the chief justice, supreme court, intermediate appellate court and circuit courts, by appointing a person from a list of not less than four, and not more than six, nominees for the vacancy, presented to the governor by the judicial selection commission.”

The Judicial Selection Commission is pleased to announce a list of nominees for the judicial vacancy of Associate Justice, Supreme Court, State of Hawaii. The judicial office has been vacant since the retirement of Associate Justice Richard W. Pollack in June 2020.

The list of nominees selected by the Commission to fill the vacancy for the judicial office in the Supreme Court are listed as follows in alphabetical order:

• Todd W. Eddins
• David M. Forman
• Darolyn Lendio Heim
• Benjamin E. Lowenthal

The Governor has 30 days from his receipt of the list today to make his appointment.

Statistics

• Total Applicants: 9; 1 Females; 8 Males
• Government Attorneys: 2
• Private Attorneys: 2
• Judges: 4
• Other: 1
• Age Range: 1 (31-40); 0 (41-50); 4 (51-60); 4 (61-70)
• Years Licensed Range: 13 years to 37 years

MN: Maui’s Ben Lowenthal, deputy public defender, one of four in running