State Senate confirms 4 judicial appointments
The Senate confirmed today the judicial appointments of Jordan Kimura to the Oahu Circuit Court and Erika Ireland, Robert Brown and David Hayakawa to the District Court of the First Circuit (Oahu).
Kimura is a co-managing partner at McCorristion Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP. He focuses on civil litigation and estate planning.
His public service includes serving for years as free legal counsel to the Sex Abuse Treatment Center at Kapiolani Medical Center. He has also served pro bono as liaison for the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii to help assign cases to attorneys, who serve pro bono.
Kimura has also been an officer and director of University Health Partners of Hawaii.
He graduated from the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law.
Ireland served as a per diem judge at District Court for two years before her confirmation.
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For the past 25 years, she has practiced law on Oahu. She is a litigation attorney and mediator for several firms, including her own solo practice. Ireland has also served as a Honolulu deputy prosecutor.
She also graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law.
A former journalist for Honolulu Civil Beat, Robert Brown covered issues including public housing and government transparency.
He is a civil litigation associate with Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher, and serves as a per diem judge for the Oahu Family Court.
Brown was also a Honolulu deputy prosecutor.
Criminal defense lawyer David Hayakawa has managed his own practice since 2012. He also has experience in family law and served as a deputy public defender.
In a recent highly publicized trial, Hayakawa defended Eric Thompson, accused of the 2022 murder of acupuncturist Jon Tokuhara, which resulted in a mistrial Aug. 9 due to a hung jury.
Hayakawa has also taught criminal law at Kapiolani Community College for eight years and served on its Paralegal Program Advisory Committee. He was dean of the Hawaii State Bar Association Trial Academy, and received the HSBA’s 2018 Ikena Award for his service for legal education.
He is a graduate of the William S. Richardson School of law.
