Chief Justice Appoints District Court Judge

News Release from Hawaii Judiciary, Mar 28, 2024

HONOLULU – Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald today appointed Michelle N. Comeau to fill a judicial vacancy in the District Court of the First Circuit (island of O‘ahu).

Comeau has been serving as a Per Diem District Court Judge since 2017. She is currently affiliated Of Counsel with the firm of Nakashima Ching, LLC where she focuses on property law and other civil matters. Prior to that she was with Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing litigating civil rights, torts, property law, and regulatory law matters, and served as an associate at Morrison & Foerster, LLP in Los Angeles. She also served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Susan Oki Mollway, and to Judge A. Wallace Tashima at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and was admitted to the Hawaiʻi State Bar in 2011.

The Chief Justice made his appointment from the nomination list presented to him by the Judicial Selection Commission on March 1, 2024. The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation.

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District Judge, District Court of the First Circuit (island of Oʻahu), State of Hawai’i Nominees

JSC Press Release, Mar 1, 2024 

Under the Constitution of the State of Hawaiʻi, Article VI, Appointment of Justices and Judges, Section 3: “The chief justice, with the consent of the senate, shall fill a vacancy in the district courts by appointing a person from a list of not less than six nominees for the vacancy presented by the judicial selection commission.”

The Judicial Selection Commission is pleased to announce a list of nominees for the judicial office of District Judge, District Court of the First Circuit (island of Oʻahu), State of Hawaiʻi.  The judicial office became vacant upon the retirement of District Judge William M. Domingo in December 2023.

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

Russ S. Awakuni
William C. Bagasol
Michelle N. Comeau
Harvey M. Demetrakopoulos
Chad M. Kumagai
Steven R. Nichols

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

Statistics

Total Applicants: 16; 6 Females; 10 Males
First Time Applicants: 1
Government Attorneys: 4
Private Attorneys: 8
Per Diem Judges: 5
Other Occupation: 4
Age Range: 1 (31-40); 4 (41-50); 7 (51-60); 4 (61-70)
Years Licensed Range: 11 years to 39 years

Additional Information

Meeting held and decision made in February 2024 with 7 Commissioners present.

For more information, visit the Judicial Selection Commission webpage or contact the Commission via email at judselect.comm@courts.hawaii.gov.

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