Today, the Hawaiʻi State Senate confirmed the judicial appointment of Michelle Comeau to the District Court of the First Circuit, State of Hawaiʻi. The First Circuit is located on the island of O‘ahu. Michelle Comeau has been a Per Diem District Court Judge for the First Circuit beginning in 2017, and in that capacity has been assigned several thousand criminal and civil cases. Since 2019, Judge Comeau has also worked in an Of Counsel role to Nakashima Ching LLC, focusing on business litigation and contracts and property law. Previously she served in an Of Counsel role and as an Associate at Alston Hunt Floyd and Ing, and an Associate Attorney at Morrison and Foerster, LLP in Los Angeles. Additionally, Judge Comeau was a Law Clerk to Judge Susan Oki Mollway of the United States District Court for the District of Hawai‘i, and to Judge A. Wallace Tashima of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Judge Comeau graduated magna cum laude from UCLA School of Law.
"Judge Comeau brings varied and valued experience to our Judiciary," Senator Karl Rhoads (District 13 - Dowsett Highlands, Pu‘unui, Nu‘uanu, Pacific Heights, Pauoa, Punchbowl, Pālama, Liliha, ʻIwilei, Chinatown, and Downtown), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee remarked. "After meeting with her and hearing her answers during her confirmation hearing, I am confident that our Judiciary will benefit from Judge Comeau's sharp legal mind and experience."