William S. Richardson School of Law

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Campus With The William S. Richardson School of Law Library In Background

• 1968 – The Hawaii State Legislature established the William S. Richardson School of Law.[9]
• 1973 – Richardson welcomed its first class of 53 students.
• 1972 – David Hood appointed Dean.
• 1974 – The American Bar Association granted William S. Richardson School of Law provisional accreditation.
• 1976 – Jerome Dupont appointed Acting Dean.
• 1977 – Cliff Thompson appointed Dean.
• 1978 – Richardson holds first Ete Bowl.
• 1979 – University of Hawaii Law Review created.

• 1981 – Richard Miller appointed Dean.
• 1982 – The American Bar Association granted William S. Richardson School of Law full accreditation.
• 1982 – Richardson sends first Moot Court Team to competition.
• 1983 – William S. Richardson School of Law moved into new facilities on the campus of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
• 1983 – Richardson Law Library opens.
• 1983 – Pacific-Asian Legal Studies program begins.
• 1985 – Jeremy Harrison appointed Dean.
• 1985 – Student Bar Association Formed.
• 1987 – Theschool joins United States Supreme Court Jurists-In-Residence Program

• 1991 – Elder Law Program formed.
• 1992 – Environmental Law Certificate established.
• 1995 – Lawrence Foster appointed Dean.
• 1995 – Pacific-Asian Legal Studies Certificate established.

• 2002 – Law Student Pledge adopted.
• 2003 – Aviam Soifer appointed dean.[10]
• 2003 – LLM program started.[2][11]
• 2005 – Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law established[12] through a Native Hawaiian Education Act grant.
• 2005 – Hawaii Innocence Project established.
• 2008 – Richardson established a part-time evening law program.[13]
• 2009 – Richardson received a grant from SBS Media Holdings in Seoul, South Korea for $200,000 to establish a Korean Law Faculty Fund.[14]

• 2010 – Chief Justice William S. Richardson died on June 21.[1]
• 2011 – Professor Jon Van Dyke died.
• 2016 – Dean Jeremy Thomas Harrison died.[15]

• U.S. News & World Report ranked Richardson 82nd amongst its 142 ranked law schools.[5] Richardson's part-time program was ranked 30th.[16]

• Institute of Asian-Pacific Business Law. The Institute of Asian-Pacific Business Law was established in June 2006. Its goal is to become an academic center for research and training in the field of business law in Asia and the Pacific.[23] The Institute focuses on commercial law, insolvency and secured transactions, corporate law and business transactions, securities, intellectual property, real estate financing, and labor law issues. The Institute's activities facilitate direct exchanges between the academic, legal, and business communities in Hawaii and throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
• Hammurabi Legal Forum: The Hammurabi Legal Forum for the Rule of Law (HLF) was established in 2008 at the school to aid law schools in Iraq re-invigorate the country's tradition of scholarship.[24] By providing an online database of free legal resources, HLF originally sought to provide information on issues that are important to Iraq and the Iraqi legal community. In 2009, the HLF expanded its efforts to assist Rule of Law activities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In 2010, it further expanded its research to incorporate additional regions of the globe, including Afghanistan and the Pacific Region, with a special focus on Timor-Leste.[25]

• Hawaii Innocence Project: The Hawaii Innocence Project's mission is to provide pro bono representation to incarcerated persons who have a credible claim of actual innocence.[26][27]

University of Hawaii Elder Law Program (UHELP): Operating throughout the year, UHELP provides Hawaii's elder community basic legal assistance, advice and information.[28][29]

• Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. Established in 2005 through a Native Hawaiian Education Act grant, the Center is an academic center that promotes education, scholarship, community outreach and collaboration on issues of law, culture and justice for Native Hawaiians and other Pacific and Indigenous peoples.[30] The center focuses on education, research and scholarship, community outreach, and the preservation of historical, legal, and traditional and customary materials. It also offers new courses and supports Native Hawaiian and other law students as they pursue legal careers and leadership roles.[31][32]
• Hawaii Health Law Policy Center aims to 1) to conduct and disseminate research on health law policy aimed at improving health care access in Hawaii; 2) to serve as a focus for multidisciplinary research, teaching, on health law and policy in the context of Hawaii; and 3) to bring community leaders, health care policymakers, faculty members, and students together to find solutions to health care shortages and other barriers to access in Hawaii's rural, impoverished, or otherwise underserved communities.[33]

The University of Hawaii Law Review is a scholarly legal journal run by students that publishes works by jurists, scholars and practitioners. It publishes two issues annually, and hosts a biennial symposium.

The Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journalis a biannual peer-reviewed open-access law journal published by the school. It covers issues facing Asia and the Pacific Rim. The journal was established in February 2000, with Jim Hitchingham as editor-in-chief and with assistance and support from Lawrence Foster, Dean of the law school, and professors Ronald Brown and Mark Levin. In addition to its web format, the journal is available through the legal databases LexisNexis and Westlaw.[34]

Each year, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sits specially at the school to hear some appeals from the United States District Court for the Districts of Hawaii and Guam.[35][36] The Hawaii Supreme Court also sits regularly.[37][38]

Started in 2007 under the tutelage of Senior Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit, Myron H Bright, the Bright International Jurist-in-Residence program hosts international jurists to facilitate dialogue with the wider community and the school's faculty and staff.

In 2007, Israel Supreme Court judge Aharon Barak was the visiting scholar. In 2010, the president of the International Court of Justice Hisashi Owada served as visiting scholar.[39]

Instituted in 1987, with the support of Myron H. Bright, a Senior Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit, Richardson has a U.S. Supreme Court Jurist-In-Residence Program. Biannually, a visiting U.S. Supreme Court Justice presents seminars on current judicial issues as well as teaches classes.[40]

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Teaching Richardson Civil Procedure Class, 2011

Through the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Foundation, Richardson has been endowed with several professorships and faculty chairs.

• Benjamin A. Kudo Professor of Law[41]
• Dan & Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair In Democratic Ideas
• Fred T. Korematsu Professorship In Law and Social Justice[42]
• George J Johnson Visiting Professor Endowment
• Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor of Business Law[43][44]
• Wallace S. Fujiyama Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law[45]
• Carlsmith Ball Faculty Scholar Fund[46]
• SBS Holdings Co. Korean Faculty Fund[14]

In 2013,The Princeton Review ranked the Richardson faculty as the third "Most Diverse Faculty."[47] And, in 2012, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 3rd of 190 Law Schools for "Smallest Faculty-Student Ratio".[48] The faculty is specialized in an array of legal areas.

Current notable faculty:

• David L. Callies, Scholar of the Law of Real Property
• Tae-Ung Baik, Former Korean Prisoner of Conscience,[49] Specialist in International Human Rights Law and Korean Law
• Mari Matsuda, Activist legal scholar, lawyer, first tenured Female Asian-American law professor
• Randall Roth
• Richard W. Pollack
• Aviam Soifer, Constitutional law scholar, former Dean of Boston College Law School
• Eric Yamamoto, Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice,[50]

Former faculty

• Chris Iijima, Legal scholar, Asian-American civil rights activist, folk singer (Deceased)
• Jon Van Dyke, Constitutional law scholar, lawyer, activist (Deceased)[51]

In 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked the school 25th of 190 Law Schools for "Most Selective". In addition, Richardson is recognized for its highly diverse student body. In 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked it 1st of 190 Law Schools for "Diversity Index,"[52] while Princeton Review ranked it "Best Environment for Minority Students."[53]

Adopted in 2002 as an aspirational reflection of Kānāwai Māmalahoe, all Richardson students recite the William S. Richardson School of Law Law Student Pledge, written by late Professor Chris Iijima, before a Hawaii Supreme Court Justice during a special ceremony before they begin their legal education.

Richardson Students Reciting Law Student Pledge At Hawaii Supreme Court

The Pledge is:

In the study of law, I will conscientiously prepare myself;

To advance the interests of those I serve before my own,

To approach my responsibilities and colleagues with integrity, professionalism, and civility,

To guard zealously legal, civil and human rights which are the birthright of all people,

And, above all,

To endeavor always to seek justice.

This I do pledge.

• Environmental Moot Court Team
• Hispanic Moot Court Team
• Saul Lefkowtiz Intellectual Property Moot Court Team
• International Environmental Moot Court Team
• International Negotiations Team
• Mock Trial Team
• Native American Moot Court Team
• Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition Team
• Robert F. Wagner Labor & Employment Law Moot Court Team
• Space Law Moot Court Team