STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3712

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    GOV. MSG. NOS. 697, 698

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary and Labor, to which was referred Governor's Message Nos. 697 and 698, submitting for study and consideration the nominations of: 

 

Commission To Promote Uniform Legislation

 

G.M. No. 697

KEVIN SUMIDA,

for a term to expire 06-30-2020; and

 

G.M. No. 698

PETER HAMASAKI,

for a term to expire 06-30-2020,

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     Your Committee has reviewed the personal histories, resumes, and statements submitted by the nominees and finds Kevin Sumida and Peter Hamasaki to possess the requisite qualifications to be nominated for reappointment to the Commission to Promote Uniform Legislation.

 

KEVIN SUMIDA

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the reappointment of Kevin Sumida from the Department of the Attorney General and six individuals.

 

     Mr. Sumida is licensed to practice law in Hawaii.  He currently serves as Senior Principal at Sumida, Au, and Wong where he focuses his litigation practice primarily on bad faith defense and insurance defense, including personal injury, construction litigation, products liability, antitrust, and coverage disputes.  Since 1982, Mr. Sumida has served on the Board of Directors of the Farrington Alumni & Community Foundation, which is the first nonprofit private foundation in Hawaii supporting a public high school.  He also serves as a coach for the Farrington High School Moot Court Competition as well as a judge for the William S. Richardson School of Law's Client Counseling Competition.

 

     According to written testimony, his fellow members on the Commission to Promote Uniform Legislation describe him as conscientious, dedicated, and hard working.  He has served on the Standby Committee on the Harmonization of Business Entities Act, Drafting Committee to Revise the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and Standby Committee on Revised Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.  He has always been an active participant in the review of the proposed uniform laws and makes valuable contributions to the final products.  He is available to testify at legislative hearings on bills for uniform acts and to provide background information to legislators and all others interested in the acts.  Mr. Sumida plays a vital role in ensuring that the products of the Commission are enacted by the Legislature to benefit the State.

 

PETER HAMASAKI

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of the nomination for the reappointment of Peter Hamasaki from the Department of the Attorney General and eight individuals.

 

     Mr. Hamasaki is licensed to practice law in Hawaii.  He is currently a Partner at McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP, and formerly served as a Foreign Law Associate in Tokyo, Japan, for the law firm Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu.  He is a member of the American Bar Association and Hawaii State Bar Association and also serves as a Director on the Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce where he is the Chairperson for the Chamber's Government Affairs Committee.

 

     According to written testimony, his fellow members on the Commission to Promote Uniform Legislation describe him as conscientious, dedicated, hard working, and a consummate team player who volunteers to testify at legislative hearings on a number of measures to enact proposed uniform laws.  He is an active participant in all phases of preparing a uniform act for enactment, including working on drafting committees to discuss and draft new acts for presentation to all Commissioners across the nation at annual summer meetings, attending annual meetings to consider and finalize the products of all drafting committees, and preparing testimony and testifying in support of the uniform acts at the Legislature.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Labor that are attached to this report, your Committee, after full consideration of the background, experience, and qualifications of the nominees, has found the nominees to be qualified for the positions to which nominated and recommends that the Senate advise and consent to the nominations.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary and Labor,

 

 

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair