November 30, 2018 – Summer Kupau-Odo ’04 was sworn in as a Judge of the District Court of the First Circuit by Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald.  She will serve a six year term.  Originally from Maui and a graduate of Lahainaluna High School, Kupau-Odo graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law in 2004.  Prior to her appointment, Summer served as the Co-Litigation Director and Staff Attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.  Before that, she was an Associate Attorney at Earthjustice where she advocated for the protection of traditional and customary rights rights in places like Nā Wai ʻEhā on Maui.  Following her graduation from Richardson, Kupau-Odo was a clerk with Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Associate Justice Simeon Acoba and a trial and appellate attorney at the Hawaiʻi Office of the Public Defender.    

In testimony to the State Senate supporting Ms. Kupau Odo’s nomination, Howard Luke, President of the Hawaiʻi State Bar Association, noted that “Ms. Kupau-Odo’s formative years in Lahaina, Maui helped develop her interest in public service, where, prior to her enrollment in law school, she served as a substitute and full-time elementary school teacher and high school counselor on Maui.” Lehua Kaʻuhane, President of the Board of the Native Hawaiian Bar Association added that Kupau-Odo’s “calm and measured demeanor, and her reputation for fair-minded advocacy were honed during her distinguished career advocating for the underserved and promoting equal access to justice.”

While in Law School, Summer was a member of the University of Hawaiʻi Law Review and the National Environmental Law Moot Court Team.  ELP Director, David Forman, shared that “ELP is extremely proud of Summer Kupau-Odo, who is the first recipient of an Environmental Law Certificate appointed as a judge!”

12/17/18 – UTL