DAMON KEY LEONG KUPCHAK HASTERT - Key Persons
Casey T. Miyashiro is an Associate in the firm's Insurance Coverage Litigation, Business & Commercial Law, Condominium & Community Association Law, Land Use & Eminent Domain, Real Estate, and Wills, Trusts & Estates practice groups. Casey earned his law degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law where he graduated cum laude and served as Managing Editor of the University of Hawaii Law Review.
Casey was selected by his peers to the 2024 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America list in the practice areas of Commercial Litigation and Litigation-Real Estate.
While in law school, Casey received CALI Excellence for the Future Awards, given for the highest score achieved in each class, in Civil Procedure I, Lawyering Fundamentals II, and Real Estate Development and Finance. He also received the Frank Boas Award for Best Pacific-Asian Law Second-Year Seminar paper, titled "Locked Up Abroad: Migrant Domestic Workers in Taiwan." Casey was a member of Phi Delta Phi and Advocates for Public Interest Law, and served as a Law School Ambassador.
Casey was a teaching assistant in Lawyering Fundamentals, for which he prepared lectures on legal citations using The Bluebook, graded papers and assisted students with writing and/or preparing legal citations. He was also a summer Extern for Judge Karen T. Nakasone of the First Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii. In 2018, he was a Summer Associate at Damon Key.
"The thought of becoming an attorney had been floating around in my head from a young age," said Casey, reflecting on his decision to pursue a career in law. The seeds were initially planted by teachers and friends who thought the fit would be ideal given his demeanor and passion for academics. According to Casey, like Liam Neeson's character in the movie "Taken," lawyers have a "particular set of skills" that enable them to provide a service to clients that no one else can. "To take what I know and apply it to our clients' situations in order to help them achieve a satisfactory result is very gratifying."
Casey was born and raised in Hawaii and graduated from Moanalua High School, magna cum laude. He attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he earned a B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in American Studies, cum laude. He lives in Honolulu and enjoys cooking, running, traveling, and trying new restaurants.
Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association
Business Law Section
Litigation Section
Young Lawyers Division
Hawaii State Bar Association
Business Law Section
Insurance Coverage Litigation Section
Real Property & Financial Services Section
Young Lawyers Division
Access to Justice Room at Honolulu District Court, Volunteer
Legal Line, Volunteer
Hawaii Times Photo Archives Foundation, Secretary and Board Member
Hawaii United Okinawa Association, Member
Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce, Member
Honolulu Japanese Junior Chamber of Commerce, Member
United Japanese Society of Hawaii, Secretary and Board Member
US-Japan Council (USJC), Associate
Christopher previously served as a Summer Associate at Damon Key, where he performed research and analysis for various transactional and litigation matters. He also drafted discovery requests and summary judgment motions, as well as client memos, letters, a settlement agreement and a commercial lease.
Christopher is a graduate of Columbia University, where he earned his Master of Arts in East Asian Languages and Cultures (Chinese Literature). He also received a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Chinese and Finance, cum laude, from Georgetown University. While at Georgetown, he routinely made the Dean's List or higher, participated in various student activities, and completed a summer study abroad program in Beijing, China.
Clint K. Hamada is an Associate in the firm's Appeals, Business & Commercial Law, Land Use & Eminent Domain, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Wills, Trusts & Estates practice groups. He earned his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. His honors include receiving CALI Awards for Excellence for highest grades in Lawyering Fundamentals I and Legal Research. He was an oralist in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court, as well as a Teaching Assistant for Lawyering Fundamentals and a Research Assistant for Legal Research.
Prior to joining Damon Key, Clint served as a Judicial Extern to Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald of the Supreme Court of Hawaii. While there, he drafted memos analyzing whether to accept or reject applications for writs of certiorari. He also assisted with drafting and editing majority and dissenting opinions. Clint created comprehensive binders used by the chief justice during oral arguments, containing relevant cases, statutes, rules, transcripts, and the record on appeal.
As a Law Clerk and also a volunteer with Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Clint assisted with a myriad of projects. He helped implement the Community Navigators Project to facilitate meaningful public access to civil legal needs through community leaders. He created and presented seminars for identity theft prevention and conducted I-765 Employment Authorization Document clinics. Clint also coordinated "Providing Refuge - A Legal Training" to highlight local housing laws' intersection with domestic violence, disability rights, and language access.
Previously, Clint was a Player Participation Analyst with Pro Football Focus in Los Angeles. As an analyst, he recorded near real-time advanced statistics, play type, play formations, player positioning, and player roles for NFL and collegiate games. He identified statistical trends and composed news-ticker articles and infographics.
Clint earned his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy Politics & Law from the University of Southern California, where he was a co-founder of Helping Hands Tutoring U.S.C.
He was born and raised in Hawaii and graduated from Iolani School. Freshly graduated from high school, Clint became an intern in the office of Hawaii's then U.S. House Representative Mazie K. Hirono, where he created extensive Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation portfolios containing summaries of international leaders, focal issues, and lectures.
Clint's father is an attorney, so the idea of possibly becoming an attorney one day was with him from an early age. During the summer prior to entering high school, he took a condensed course called "Europe and the Modern World," which covered about a thousand years of European history in only eight weeks. "The course put into perspective the development of many of the rights that we find ‘fundamental' to our everyday lives, yet often take for granted, such as habeas corpus," said Clint. "It gave the law a new meaning to me."
Clint loves interacting with clients and developing solutions to their problems that might not have been readily apparent. "I become heavily invested in everything I undertake, and as a result, I become personally invested in my clients. Success for them is success for me," he added.
Clint currently lives in Honolulu. In his spare time, he enjoys pushing himself physically as a weightlifting and exercise enthusiast. Clint also has a passion for football, as evidenced by his former employment with Pro Football Focus.
Daniel J. Koller is an Associate in the firm's Business & Commercial Law, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Maritime/Admiralty Law practice groups. Prior to becoming an attorney, Daniel worked for 16 years in the Marine Industry, bringing a substantial amount of maritime knowledge and experience to his legal practice at Damon Key.
Daniel graduated cum laude from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. He received CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for achieving the highest grade in the class for Contract Drafting and Criminal Procedure. While in law school, he was a member of the Law and Business Organization. He was a Teaching Assistant for Professor Randle DeFalco in Criminal Law and worked pro bono for the University of Hawaii's Office of Innovation and Commercialization's legal department. He also served as a Summer Associate at Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert.
In 2003, Daniel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Transportation from the California State University Maritime Academy. While there, he also earned his USCG Unlimited Tonnage Merchant Marine Officer license and then sailed as an officer on container ships and research vessels throughout the Pacific and Asia Pacific.
Daniel holds three British Standards Institution (BSI) certifications: ISO 9001:2008/2015 (Management) Lead Auditor; ISO 14001 (Environment) Lead Auditor; ISO 45001 (Occupational Health & Safety) Lead Auditor. The BSI certifications qualified Daniel to provide external audits of companies seeking ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification, which led to auditing ship owing companies and their associated vendors.
David Hardy Kamakanikaʻilialoha Abitbol (David H. Abitbol), is an Associate in the firm's Appeals, Construction Law, Land Use & Eminent Domain, and Litigation & Dispute Resolution, practice groups.
David earned his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law. He received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award (highest grade in the class) for Contracts II, Legal Research, and Supreme Court Seminar. He was a member and manager of the Saul Lefkowitz Intellectual Property Moot Court Team and a Senator of the Student Bar Association. David also served as a Teaching Assistant for Lawyering Fundamentals. In this capacity, he assisted adjunct faculty with advising new students on their first semester writing assignments, as well as facilitated lectures on legal writing and legal citations.
Prior to joining the firm, David was a Summer Associate at Damon Key. While at the firm, he assisted our Attorneys with ongoing litigation and transactional matters throughout the firm's different practice areas.
David also serves as a faculty lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Political Science Department, where he teaches Constitutional Law.
While in law school, David was an Evening Part-Time student. While managing the demands of law school, David worked full-time at the Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center, where he served as the organization's Policy & Contracts Manager. In this position, he was responsible for grant administration and contract management. He oversaw more than $5 million in federal grant funds and contracts, including the processing of proposals and awards to agencies providing medical treatment and social services to people living with HIV. Additionally, David executed an impressive array of leadership duties in the organization's Program Development, Compliance, Training, and Information Technology divisions.
Before entering law school, David was with Waikiki Health, an organization committed to providing affordable, quality medical and social services. He first served as the HIV Program Quality Assistant, providing counseling and testing. He then worked his way up to HIV Medical Case Manager and then HIV Program Manager. In these positions, he served as a patient advocate for approximately 100 clients and supervised the staff and day-to-day activities of the HIV Early Intervention Services program.
Throughout his non-profit career, David was able to serve the most marginalized people in Hawaii's community. Working with and for the community, he learned the importance of being an advocate and voice for the voiceless, as well as how collaboration and working as a community can serve a higher purpose. From these experiences he became mission-driven, leading with compassion and humility. According to David, he would not be the person or attorney that he is today if it wasn't for his prior service to Hawaii's communities.
In 2019, Pacific Business News named David a Business of Pride co-honoree, at Hawaii Health & Harm Reduction Center. In recognition for being an ally to the LGBTQ community and for going above and beyond in creating an inclusive and diverse business environment.
David holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he graduated with High Honors. During his undergraduate, David consistently achieved Dean's List honors, and received the Political Science Undergraduate Achievement Scholarship. He was also a member of the Honors Program and earned High Honors for his Senior Thesis: Marketing the Other: The Semiotics of Hawaii's Tourism Industry.
David decided to become an attorney while taking a Political Science course on law & politics. He quickly realized how intellectually challenging and stimulating the law was, and found much gratification in studying, analyzing, and learning about it. Today, his greatest skill is his creativity and out-of-the-box approach to problem solving. "I love that this job gives me an opportunity to tackle complex legal issues, while working directly with clients. By taking a client-centered approach, I will always fight for the person behind the case and will always strive to serve their needs," said David.
David is a graduate of Damien Memorial School. He grew up in Waianae, on the island of Oahu, and he spent his summers visiting his family in Israel, where he holds dual-citizenship. David's unique up-bringing exposed him to diverse cultural perspectives that continues to inform his world views today. Even throughout his travels, David never lost sight of who he is. "I am Native Hawaiian, and growing up in a Native Hawaiian family I learned important values such as respect, responsibility, and the duty we share to care for our home in Hawaii. I believe embodying these values grounds me in my work as an attorney at Damon Key," said David.
David is a lifelong supporter of University of Hawaii sports, as well as a fan of mixed martial arts. He also enjoys taking yearly trips to Lake Tahoe to go snowboarding. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, going to the beach, and spending quality time with family and friends.
Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association
Hawaii State Bar Association
Jonathan Niichi Marchuk is an Associate in the firm's Insurance, Land Use & Eminent Domain, and Wills, Trusts & Estates practice groups. Jonathan earned his law degree from William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia. He received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award (highest grade in the class) in Human Resource Management for In-House Counsel. He was a member of the Phi Delta Phi Legal Honor Society and served as Class Representative with the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association.
Anna practices in the firm's Appeals, Construction Law, Insurance Defense/Surety Law, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Real Estate practice groups. As a director of the firm, her main focus is construction law and commercial litigation. She has represented construction organizations, developers, owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and design professionals in reviewing and drafting construction contracts, as well as in all forums of dispute resolution, including extensive arbitration and administrative hearings, and appeals.
Anna once again was selected by her peers for inclusion in the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for her work in Arbitration, Construction Law, Government Contracts, Litigation-Construction, Litigation-Insurance, Litigation-Real Estate and Real Estate Law. Anna was also named the Best Lawyers® 2021 Construction Law "Lawyer of the Year". A designation given to a single attorney in each practice group by metropolitan area. Receiving this designation reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among their peers for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity.
She is a member of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, where she is a former chair of the Division 13 Government Contracting Steering Committee, served as a member of the Division 1 Dispute Resolution Steering Committee, and was a Contributing Editor for the Construction Lawyer, a construction law publication for the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry. She has written extensively on construction law topics, including contributions as a co-author to many national books, including Construction Defects (First and Second Editions) (ABA 2012); the State Public Construction Law Source Book (CCH, 2002); State-By-State Guide to Architect, Engineer and Contractor Licensing (Multiple Editions) (Aspen Law & Business, 1999), A State-By-State Guide to Construction and Design Law (Multiple Editions) (ABA 1998); Fifty State Construction Lien and Bond Law (2024 Edition); and The Design/Build Process: A Guide to Licensing and Procurement Requirements in the 50 States and Canada (Multiple Editions) (ABA 1997). She co-authored the Construction Contracts chapter of the Hawaii Real Estate Manual, and has also written articles for various construction publications, including the Construction Lawyer and Reeves Journal.
She has also spoken at numerous seminars on construction law, including seminars on construction, procurement and/or design law for entities including ACEC Hawaii, CFMA Hawaii, Lorman Education Services, National Business Institute, and has spoken at national meetings for the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, on Cyber-Liability, Cost Plus Construction Contracts, and Extended Surety Bonds for Highway Construction, and was selected as a Best Lawyer in America in the area of Construction Law.
Prior to joining the firm in 1992, Anna worked for the Hawaii Supreme Court as a clerk for Chief Justice Ronald Moon. She graduated from University of California's Hastings College of the Law.
Katie T. Pham is an Associate in the firm's Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice group. Before joining Damon Key, Katie served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable R. Mark Browning, Chief Judge of the First Circuit, where she assisted the Court on probate, trust, conservatorship, and guardianship matters. Proficient in Vietnamese and French, Katie contributes to our firm's ability to offer client services in a growing number of languages.
Katie earned her law degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, where she served as Senior Editor of the Asian-Pacific Law & Policy Journal. She was also an Oralist on the Jessup International Moot Court Team, a Teaching Assistant for Civil Procedure for Professor Linda H. Krieger, and a Scholar Advocate for Professor Eric K. Yamamoto.
While in law school, Katie was a Summer Associate at Hawaii Gas. In this position, she assisted general counsel with various matters involving property law, administrative law, and environmental law. Katie also served as a Judicial Extern to the Honorable Mark E. Recktenwald, Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, where she assisted the Court in reviewing applications for certiorari. As an Extern for Project Expedite Justice, she assisted human rights attorneys in building cases and drafting a request to the International Criminal Court to open an investigation.
Before law school, Katie completed a Security Studies Internship at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS), where she was also the recipient of the Daniel K. Inouye Fellowship. While there, she assisted faculty members with planning lessons and facilitating class discussions, as well as provided support to visiting fellows. It was during her time at APCSS that she first considered a career in law, having seen how the law touches every aspect of our lives and the importance of rule of law.
Katie earned an M.A. degree in French Literature, with high honors, and a B.A. degree in French Literature, magna cum laude, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. During this time, she served as a Graduate Assistant, independently planning and teaching beginner and intermediate French classes.
Katie was born and raised in Vietnam, moving to Hawaii as a teenager and attending James Campbell High School on Oahu. Katie appreciates that she can learn new things every day as a natural part of her job and believes that being a lawyer is a true privilege. A mentor once said that law is a healing profession. While it first sounded counterintuitive, given the adversarial nature of the legal system, Katie came to understand and agree that helping clients navigate challenging problems, resolve conflicts, and manage crises can bring healing.
When out of the office, Katie enjoys watching movies, reading, hiking, film photography, traveling, and learning languages. She resides in Honolulu with her husband and dog.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of Damon Key
Matt Evans is a Director of Damon Key and practices in the firm's Business & Commercial Law, Real Estate, Construction Law, Creditors' Rights, Insurance, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Appeals practice groups. With a primary focus on commercial disputes, Matt aims to provide legal services in a manner that places his clients' goals at the center, with a mind toward helping them prevent disputes before they occur and, when necessary, resolve disputes by finding practical, sensible, and efficient solutions that are firmly grounded in the law.
With this approach in mind, Matt has litigated a wide variety of cases on behalf of both businesses and individuals, ranging from relatively minor landlord-tenant issues to multi-million dollar commercial, construction, and real estate disputes. He has provided legal services on behalf of Fortune 500 companies, national and local banks, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers, real estate holding companies, and local businesses and nonprofit organizations, both large and small. Matt has experience litigating cases before the Hawaii District Courts, Circuit Courts, Intermediate Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court, as well as the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Matt has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 2024 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for his work in Construction Law, Litigation-Construction, Litigation-Insurance, Litigation-Real Estate and Real Estate Law. He is recognized by Super Lawyers in the practice area of Business Litigation.
Matt has been appointed to the Board of Directors for Meritas, a global alliance of independent law firms that serves the legal needs of companies doing business in multiple markets. Matt was elected to the position from the more than 8,500 attorneys in the Meritas member network and will serve with 20 others from around the world for a three-year term. He has been involved with Meritas for over 10 years, during which time he has held several different roles and served in multiple capacities: initially, as the firm's designated Young Lawyer Liaison, then later as a member of the Meritas Young Lawyer Advisory Board. Today, in addition to serving on the Meritas Board of Directors, Matt is one of the firm's Member Contacts and sits on the network's Real Estate Group Steering Committee, the Finance Committee, and is an active participant in the Meritas Global Firm Management Forum. As a board member, he will participate in strategic planning, member recruitment and development, and the administration of Meritas' rigorous quality standards, which sets the network apart from other legal organizations. Matt also serves as a member of Damon Key's Executive Committee, playing a vital role in managing the firm, and chairs the firm's Hiring Committee.
Matt is also an active member of both the Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) and the American Bar Association (ABA). He was previously chosen as a Fellow of the HSBA's Leadership Institute (2013), and was instrumental in the formation and success of the Young Lawyers Committee of the ABA's Section of State and Local Government Law, having served as Secretary and later Co-Chair of the Committee from 2013-2016. In 2018, he was named by Pacific Business News as a "40 Under 40" honoree and recognized as one of the best and brightest young business leaders in the State of Hawaii.
Born and raised in Kaneohe on the windward side of Oahu, Matt obtained his Bachelor's degree, with distinction, from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he majored in Communication and minored in Music. He continued on to the University of Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of Law for law school where he obtained his J.D. and graduated magna cum laude. During law school, Matt was the recipient of several academic and scholarship awards, including the Hawaii State Bar Association C. Jepson Garland Memorial Scholarship Award for authoring the best paper on Real Property and Land Use, the CALI Excellence for the Future Award for achieving the highest grade in Negotiable Instruments, and the Richard S. and Percy K. Mirikitani Memorial Scholarship Award.
When he's not in the office or courtroom working for his clients, Matt looks forward to spending time with his wife, Taryn, and their daughter, Collins.
Professional and Community Involvement
American Bar Association
State and Local Government Law Section
Young Lawyers Committee: Co-Chair (2014-2016); Secretary (2013-2014)
Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee
Business Law Section
Dispute Resolution Section
Forum on Construction Industry
Litigation Section
Public Contract Law Section
Job Titles:
- Senior Counsel
- Vice - President of the Firm and Is the Chairperson
Michael is the Vice-President of the firm and is the chairperson of the firm's Executive Committee.
Nicholas Ernst is an Associate in the firm's Appeals, Litigation & Dispute Resolution, and Wills, Trusts & Estates practice groups. He earned his law degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law where he studied in the Evening Part Time program for students working full time. Nick arrived at the firm with more than a decade of experience in education and a passion for public speaking and debate.
While in law school, Nick was a member and captain of the Native American Moot Court Team, a teaching assistant for Contracts I & Contracts II, and a member of Phi Delta Phi, an international legal honor society. In 2018, he and his partner were awarded first place for their written brief in the National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court Competition. He and his partners were also semifinalists in the 2018 and 2020 moot court competitions. He also earned a certificate from the Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law.
Nick was a summer associate at Damon Key in 2019, assisting with various legal tasks. Prior to that, he held an externship with Judge Rhonda Nishimura of the First Circuit Court, where he wrote briefs for motions and hearings in personal and commercial civil actions. He also held an externship with a Honolulu law firm, gaining further research experience.
In January 2007, Nick joined the teaching staff of Kamehameha Schools, his high school alma mater. He was a teacher in the school's Speech Department, teaching Honors Value Debate, Electronic Media and Communication Technology, Honors Interpretation and Public Speaking, and other communication-related courses. Nick is credited with introducing a new broadcast journalism course focused on video and radio broadcasting. He continued to teach full time at Kamehameha Schools while pursuing his law degree and until joining the firm as an Associate.
According to Nick, he remains very passionate about education - particularly for Native Hawaiian children. However, over time, he became attracted to the idea of becoming an attorney because of the opportunities it would provide to make someone's life a little easier. "I wanted to serve my community with their legal needs because there is probably nothing more intimidating, confusing and challenging as the law," said Nick. "I wanted to be able to provide the relief one feels knowing that they have an advocate fighting on their behalf."
Nick remains a volunteer speech and debate coach for Kamehameha Schools. He is also active with the Hawaii Speech League (HSL), an organization dedicated to speech activities for public and private school students across the state. He introduced Congressional Debate to the HSL, a type of competition that has students emulate members of the U.S. Congress by debating bills and resolutions which they prepare in advance.
Nick holds a B.S. in Journalism & Mass Communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder. While there, he became a co-Emmy award winner (2006 Student Division), for the documentary Destination Pluto and Beyond. He was born in Pampanga, Philippines, and raised in Kailua, where he resides today. Beyond coaching speech and debate, Nick also enjoys watching movies, reading, playing with his dog and enjoying all types of food.
Ross Uehara-Tilton is a Director in the firm's Business & Commercial Law, Tax Planning and Controversy, Trust and Probate Litigation, Estate Planning, and Appellate Litigation practice groups. He earned his law degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, William S. Richardson School of Law where he served as Co-Editor-in-Chief and Staff Writer for the University of Hawaii Law Review.
Ross has been named to the 2024 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America list in the practice areas of Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Litigation & Controversy-Tax, Litigation-Trusts & Estates, Nonprofit / Charities, Real Estate Law, Tax Law, and Trusts & Estates. He is recognized by Super Lawyers as a "Rising Star" in Estate Planning & Probate.
Ross received his LL.M. (Masters of Laws) degree in Taxation and Certificate in Estate Planning from Boston University, an internationally recognized postgraduate law degree, furthering his practice and skills in tax planning, compliance and audits, and estate planning. Ross competed in the final round of the American Bar Association's Law Student Tax Challenge, as one of the four teams selected as finalists for the nation-wide competition in the LL.M. division. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licensed in the State of Hawaii (not in public practice) and the State of Washington (FPTP #6603).
During law school, Ross was awarded the CALI Award in Federal Income Taxation, Corporate and Partnership Taxation, Second Year Seminar, and Legal Practice I for the highest grade in each of those courses, and was a team member on the briefs for the International Environmental Law Moot Court Team. He also served as President and Treasurer of the William S. Richardson School of Law Class of 2017, a non-profit corporation which he helped to organize for fundraising purposes. A portion of the funds that the non-profit raised were used to update classroom technology at the law school.
In 2016, Ross served as a Summer Associate at Damon Key. Prior to that, he was a judicial extern to Susan Oki Mollway, the then-Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, where he conducted extensive legal writing and research for a wide variety of civil and criminal cases in federal court. In 2012, during his undergraduate studies, Ross was a paralegal intern in the State of Hawaii Office of the Public Defender. For nine years prior to joining Damon Key, he served as paralegal at a small local law firm-practicing primarily in the areas of family law, consumer bankruptcy, estate planning, and civil litigation-a job he started while in high school.
Ross received a B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Hawaii, concurrently with his B.B.A. in Accounting, magna cum laude, from the University of Hawaii West Oahu. He was a member of Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honor Society, Tau Psi Chapter, serving as Vice President in 2012 and 2013.
Since 2011, his community service work has focused primarily on children and family law. He serves as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (Guardian ad Litem) for children involved in Hawaii's foster care system through the Family Court's CASA Program, as well as a Group Facilitator for Kids First, a mandatory program for children and families going through divorce or paternity cases in Hawaii.
Ross and his husband, Devin, also own manage The Curb Kaimuki, a multi-roaster specialty coffee shop located on Waialae Avenue in Kaimuki, Kaimuki Storeroom, a bottle shop located within The Curb selling exclusively natural and low-intervention wine, and Kaimuki Selections, a wholesale natural wine and spirits distributor serving the State of Hawaii. Ross served until 2022 as a member of the Boards of Directors of the Hawaii Coffee Foundation and the Hawaii Coffee Association, an industry organization representing coffee growers, processors, retailers, and service providers with shared interests in Hawaiian coffee; and currently serves as a Director of the Kapena School of Music and Creative Expression, a music and performing arts school founded by the multiple Na Hoku Hanohano award-winning band Kapena.
Job Titles:
- Legal Research Assistant for Professor
Job Titles:
- Certified Public Accountant