Representative legal achivements
Appeals - Civil Rights
In a published opinion, the Ninth Circuit reversed a U.S. District Court decision that prevented a Title IX athletics civil rights case to move forward as a class action on behalf of female student athletes at James Campbell High School, the largest public high school in Hawaiʻi.
Civil Rights and Liberties
Brought a case on behalf of a Black mother and her daughter against the Honolulu Police Department and the Hawaiʻi Department of Education for the arrest of the then 10-year old daughter at her elementary school because of a drawing that she made at school.
Appeals - Employment
In a published opinion, the Ninth Circuit reversed a U.S. District Court decision dismissing a federal employee’s discrimination claims that arose prior to the employee’s termination holding that the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board did not have jurisdiction over such claims and that the employee adequately exhausted his administrative remedies before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Employment
Obtained a six-figure settlement on behalf of a 45-year old firefighter recruit alleging age discrimination and retaliation when he was abruptly terminated from his firefighting class after he complained about discrimination to his union and supervisors.
Voting Rights
Brought a case before the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court challenging the redistricting maps in Hawaiʻi on behalf of a group of voters on the basis that the maps failed to comply with article IV, section 6 of the Hawaiʻi Constitution.
LGBTQ Rights
After an evidentiary hearing, obtained a court order from Family Court in Maui allowing a 15-year old transgender boy in foster care to receive life-saving hormone therapy treatment against the objection of his biological parents.
Descriptions and summaries of prior cases and settlements are intended to provide information about relevant legal experience only and should not be understood as a guarantee or assurance of future success in any matter. Results are dependent on a variety of facts and circumstances unique to the particular matters described, and do not reflect all past cases. Past results are not a guarantee of future results, and the outcome of a particular case or matter cannot be predicted using past results. Every case is unique and different and should be evaluated on its own merits, without comparison to other cases with different facts and circumstances.