The state Senate voted unanimously today to confirm Craig Nakamura as chief judge on the state Intermediate Court of Appeals.

Nakamura, who has served as an associate judge on the appeals court since 2004, replaces Mark Recktenwald, who moved up to the state Supreme Court.

Nakamura is a former assistant U.S. attorney and a lawyer in private practice who has taught appellate advocacy at the University of Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of Law.

Nakamura graduated from UH and Harvard Law School.