Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert Hires Attorneys Kelly Morikone and E. Kumau Pineda-Akiona as Associates
Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert, one of Honolulu’s most prestigious law firms, has hired two new associates who are both recent graduates from the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law. Kelly Morikone, will practice in the firm’s Immigration Practice Group and E. Kumau Pineda-Akiona will primarily focus on work within the firm’s Real Estate and Construction Practice Group.
“We are pleased to have Kelly and Kumau join our firm,” said Damon Key Vice President Michael Yoshida. “Their youthful energy and excellence in academics made them both outstanding students at the university and we are confident they will transition well into the legal community.”
As a student, Morikone was student board treasurer and community board member of the Advocates for Public Interest Law. She also served as a member and associate articles editor of the Asian Pacific Law and Policy Journal and was the Chris Iijima Fellow at the Hawaii Immigrant Justice Center at Legal Aid.
Morikone also clerked with the United State Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii, the Executive Office for Immigration Review – Honolulu Immigration Court, and the Appellate Section of the USDOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation in Washington, DC. Born and raised in Honolulu, Morikone was valedictorian of Kalani High School and received a Regents Scholarship to attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree with honors in Economics and a minor in Music.
Pineda-Akiona, who graduated cum laude from the law school, served as a member of the University of Hawaii Law Review and was the recipient of numerous awards, including the CALI Excellence for Future Award in Constitutional Law I, Second Year Seminar and Legal Practice I. He was also the recipient of the C. Jepson Garland Memorial Scholarship Award and University of Hawaii Graduate Division Achievement Scholarship.
Pineda-Akiona also has experience as a judicial extern to Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald of the Supreme Court of Hawaii and the Honorable Michael D. Wilson of the First Circuit Court of Hawaii. Prior to attending law school, he served as the general manager of a Hawaii-based retailer and manufacturer. He was raised on Molokai and is a graduate of the Kamehemeha Schools at Kapalama.
Founded in 1963, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert serves the Hawaii business community with the connections and capabilities of an international practice, holding the highest standards for business law and commercial litigation. The firm is part of the Meritas network of more than 170 independent law firms in at least 60 countries, and the only representative in Hawaii. With more than 20 attorneys, the firm’s practice areas include: Bankruptcy & Creditor’s Rights; Business & Commercial; Dispute Resolution; Employment; Estate Planning; Immigration & Naturalization; Insurance; Intellectual Property; Land Use and Real Estate & Construction Law. Its office is located at 1003 Bishop Street on the 16th floor. For more information, visit www.hawaiilawyer.com.