Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 6, 1 June 2013 — Law students prepare to serve Hawaiian community [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Law students prepare to serve Hawaiian community

By Derek Kauanoe Teri Māhealani Wright pursued a Native Hawaiian law certificate because she wanted to advocate forNative Hawaiians. "I am interested in Native Hawaiian land and resource management," said Wright. She is among 1 1 law students from the University of Hawai'i William S. Richardson School of Law who graduated with a Native Hawaiian law certificate onMay 12. Fifty law students have graduated from Richardson specializing in Native Hawaiian law. From 2007 until 2009, 11 students graduated with a Pacific-Asian Legal Studies certificate with a specialization in Native Hawaiian law. Since 2010,

39 students have graduated with the now-standalone certificate. Certificate students successfully complete certain courses that range from Native Hawaiian Rights to Administrative Law. Clinical work and a writing component is also required. Graduates were asked what it means to have earned the certificate. "It means that I have kuleana to put this knowledge to good use," said Jarrett Keohokalole. Kanoe Pu'uohau from Hilo added, "To me, having earned a certificate in Native Hawaiian law expresses my commitment to my community and provides me with the tools that I will need to make a contribution in the future." Wright and nine other certificate graduates fulfilled their elinieal

work by providing assistance to Native Hawaiian families as they dealt with quiet title and/or partition actions against their ancestral lands. The elinie helped people, unahle to afford an attorney, to better understand the legal process. Faculty and students also helped individuals to more confidently represent themselves in court. Certificate graduate Kainui Smith from Kailua spent two summers working on the project, in addition to the elinie. He also assisted with the development of a legal primer on quiet title and partition action. The elinie was described by several students as among their most memorable courses. The elinie was part of the A'o Aku A'o Mai Initiative funded by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

( Ka Wai Ola featured an article on this initiative last month.) "It was a great experience to be able to work with real pro se defendants in quiet title and partition actions and to know that the work I was doing for the course was something that was helping real people," said Puananionaona īhoene. Kaipo Ka'awaloa added, "I especially enjoyed the fact that I was able to help real Native Hawaiians navigate the complex legal system as a means of preserving their rights and ancestral lands." Four certificate students, Caycie Gusman, Jarrett Keohokalole, Teri Wright and Zachary DiIonno also spent two years as part of the Native American Moot Court Team. Certificate requirements may be fulfilled through participation on the team. The team amassed 10 awards over two annual competitions winning three first plaee awards in 2013. In 2012, the team won two first-place awards, three second-place awards and two third-place awards. Bianca Isaki, another certificate recipient, reported that she will work at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs after graduation and before clerking for a judge. Nieole Torres will return to her home in Saipan and work as a legal clerk at the Supreme Court for the Commonweahh of the Northern Marianas Islands. Describing her time with the program, Maxx Phillip s said: "I have loved my time in this program and feel so blessed that it exists. I have been challenged, supported

and embraced by the teachers, staff and my fellow students in a way I could have never imagined."

NATIVE HAWAIIAN LAW PR0FESS0R WINS TEACHING MEŪAL

Melody Kapilialoha MaeKenzie, associate professor of law and director of Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in

Native Hawaiian Law, was awarded the University of Hawai'iBoardof Regents' Medal for Excellence in Teaching. The award "pays tribute to faculty members for

their extraordinary level of subject mastery and scholarship, teaching effectiveness and creativity, and personal values heneheial to students." A university web page on the award describes Professor MaeKenzie as one who "enacts a legacy of namesake Chief Justice William S. Richardson through an abiding passion for justice conducted with tolerance, kindness and openness, from classroom to community and in her consultant role to leaders in Hawai'i and the nation." ■ Derek Kauanoe is the student and community outreach coordinatorwith the Ka HuliAo Centerfor ExceIIence in Native Hawaiian Law at the Wilīiam S. Richardson School ofLaw at the University ofHawai'i atMānoa.

Top row, from left: Teri Wright, Nieole Torres, Puananionaona Thoene and Bianca lsaki. Second row: Zachary ūilonno, Jarrett Keohokalole and Kainui Smith. Bottom row: Maxx Phillips, Kaipo Ka'awaloa, Kanoe Pu'uohau and Caycie Gusman. - Courtesy photos

Melody MacKenzie