Governor announces two judicial nominees for Hawaii Supreme Court | News, Sports, Jobs

The Maui News

Gov. Josh Green has nominated Judge Lisa Ginoza and attorney Vladimir Devens to fill two associate justice vacancies on the Hawaii Supreme Court.

“One of my guiding principles for judicial nominations is to ensure diversity — in terms of gender and ethnicity, yes — but also in background and experience,” Green said Monday. “These nominees have very different legal backgrounds, but the breadth and depth of their experience in different areas of law and practice were compelling reasons for me to choose them.”

Ginoza has served on the state Intermediate Court of Appeals for 13 years, five of those as chief judge, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office. She also served as first deputy attorney general from 2005 to 2010. In private practice, Ginoza has worked for some of the top law firms in Honolulu overseeing various types of litigation and handled cases at all court levels.

She is a member of the boards of directors of both the Judiciary History Center and the American Judicature Society, and chairs the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Commission to Promote and Advance Civic Education, known as the PACE Commission.

Ginoza received her juris doctor from the University of Hawai’i William S. Richardson School of Law and is a graduate of Kailua High School.

Devens is principal at the Law Offices of Vladimir P. Devens LLC and had previously been a partner at Meheula, Devens and Winer. He served as lead counsel in the Hawaii Supreme Court’s landmark child abuse decision in Kahoohanohano v. DHS and has handled cases involving constitutional privacy rights, child sexual abuse issues and wrongful death.

A former Honolulu Police Department corporal, Devens remains a volunteer reserve police officer and serves as a director for the nonprofit Crime Stoppers Honolulu as well as a member on the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court. He has also held several roles with the Hawaii State Bar Association since 2011 and is a volunteer attorney with the Access to Justice Center.

Devens earned his juris doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and is a graduate of Kalani High School.

Ginoza and Devens were among six names submitted to the governor by the Judicial Selection Commission. If confirmed by the state Senate, they will fill vacancies on the court left by the retirements of Associate Justice Michael Wilson in March and Associate Justice Paula Nakayama in April.

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