Updated at 3:26 p.m., Friday, November 2, 2007
Lingle names new nominee for Hawaii appeals court
Advertiser Staff
Katherine Leonard, a private attorney who specializes in civil litigation, was nominated by Gov. Linda Lingle today as a judge on the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.Leonard is a partner with Carlsmith Ball LLP and has worked in commercial, trust and environmental law. Lingle chose Leonard after the state Senate rejected her first pick, O'ahu Circuit Court Judge Randal Lee. Leonard would replace Judge John S.W. Lim, who died in June.
The Senate is likely to return for another special session to hold confirmation hearings and a vote on Leonard's nomination. The Senate has 30 days to act or else she is automatically appointed.
Several senators had cited Lee's lack of civil experience as a factor in their decision not to confirm him. Lee is a former Honolulu deputy prosecutor who has spent two years as Circuit Court judge.
Leonard graduated from the University of Hawai'i William S. Richardson School of Law and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. She clerked in O'ahu Circuit Court and the state Supreme Court but has no judicial experience.
