Ige taps Connors to be state’s next attorney general

Gov. David Ige has appointed Clare Connors, a prominent local attorney and experienced litigator, to serve as Hawaii’s next attorney general, replacing Russell Suzuki.

An attorney at Honolulu’s Davis Levin Livingston, she’s expected to start her new job as the state’s top legal and law enforcement officer within the next couple of weeks.

Ige stressed Connors’ experience in both criminal and civil litigation in making the appointment, saying that she will be a “tremendous asset” to the state.

“I really know that she will bring many skills to defend the state in legal proceedings, provide outstanding legal advice and counsel, and manage the largest law firm in the state very well,” he said during a Thursday press conference convened to announce the appointment.

The state Attorney General’s Office has made headlines over the past couple of years for opposing policies put forth by President Donald Trump. Many of the challenges were brought by former Attorney General Doug Chin, who took positions against more than 20 Trump policies, including the travel ban against several Muslim-majority countries, through lawsuits, legal briefs in support of other states’ lawsuits, and letters to the Trump administration.

Ige suggested that the Attorney General’s Office will continue those challenges under Connors, “especially with the federal government taking on so many positions that I think really are not consistent with the values of our community.”

“That wouldn’t be her primary job,” Ige added. “Obviously, her job will be here working on behalf of the people.”

Former President Barack Obama nominated Connors to be a federal judge in Hawaii in 2015. She was to fill the vacancy on the U.S. District Court created by Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway’s retirement. While unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, her nomination became ensnared in party politics, and she was one of a number of Obama appointees who never got a vote before the full Senate.

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, took to the Senate floor several times urging her Republican colleagues to confirm Connors and other judicial nominees. “She is impartial, she is qualified and she deserves a vote,” Hirono said in 2016 to no avail.

The position was later filled by Jill Otake, who was nominated by Trump.

Connors, 44, has worked since 2011 as an attorney at Honolulu’s Davis Levin Livingston, where she has represented cases involving medical malpractice, personal injury, consumers’ rights, civil rights, commercial disputes and insurance matters, according to the law firm’s website. She also represented the federal government prosecuting fraud, child exploitation crimes and other felony offenses.

She began her legal career in Hawaii clerking for federal District Judge David Ezra and was an assistant U.S. attorney in Hawaii from 2004 to 2011. She also worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Tax Division.

Connors received her law degree from Harvard Law School. She also holds two bachelor’s degrees from Yale College: one in ethics, politics and economics and another in international studies. She graduated from Punahou School.

It hasn’t always been easy for governors to enlist local attorneys to serve as attorney general. But Connors said public serv­ice is “part of my DNA,” noting her past work for the federal government.

“The opportunity to serve the people of Hawaii is what motivated me,” said Connors.

It’s not clear whether Suzuki, who has worked for the state Attorney General’s Office for nearly 40 years, will remain with the office. He became attorney general when Chin resigned from the post to become lieutenant governor in February. (Chin’s time in that role ended last month when Josh Green was sworn into office as the new lieutenant governor.)

Suzuki served as first deputy attorney general under Attorneys General Mark Bennett, David Louie and Chin.

Suzuki’s skills as a litigator were questioned last year when he represented the state in front of the Hawaii Supreme Court in a case involving a proposed amendment to the Hawaii Constitution that would have afforded the Legislature the power to tax property to support public education. The state lost the case, and some questioned whether it was in part due to Suzuki’s performance before the court.

“I think we could have been better represented,” state Sen. Michelle Kidani told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser after the Supreme Court ruled against the state and in favor of Hawaii’s four counties. Kidani was a lead sponsor of the measure that proposed the constitutional amendment.

Asked whether Suzuki would stay on with the Attorney General’s Office under Connors, Ige said, “I think he will be part of the transition. I think he will be looking at what he wants to do.”

“I think that we want to give Clare the opportunity to meet and talk with Russell and get a sense from Russell about what his interests would be.”