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New District Court judge praised for willingness to embrace new challenges

Kirstin Hamman sworn in at same courtroom where she started as a clerk 20 years ago

New 2nd Circuit Court Judge Kirstin Hamman gets help putting on her robe from sons Mason Ouchi (from left), Jaysen Giroux and brother Chad Hamman after being sworn in Friday. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Kirstin Hamman is sworn in as a 2nd Circuit District Court judge Friday afternoon in Wailuku’s Hoapili Hale by Hawaii State Supreme Court Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
Hamman and Rcktenwald share an embrace. -- The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
WAILUKU -- Kirstin Hamman was praised as hardworking, smart and willing to take on new challenges, as she was sworn in Friday as a 2nd Circuit District Court judge. "The thing that really distinguishes her is she's a great person, very humble," said Howard Luke, president of the Hawaii State Bar Association. With the gallery filled with attorneys, family members and friends, the swearing-in ceremony took place in the 2nd Circuit courtroom where Hamman started her career 20 years ago as a law clerk for now-retired Judge Boyd Mossman. When she applied for the job, he needed to fill the vacancy quickly, Hamman said. She said the judge preferred to hire law clerks who were from Maui or who had ties to the island, in hopes that they would use the experience to give back to the community. "But he was in a bind, and I got the job," Hamman said. She had planned to move back to Oahu afterward. "But Judge Mossman's Maui home quickly became my home, and I never left," she said. "I'm so very proud now to be able to serve the people of Maui as a District Court judge." In April, the state Senate confirmed Hamman's appointment to fill the vacancy created by the retirement in August of Family Court Judge Keith Tanaka. District Court judges handle criminal cases with maximum jail terms of one year, probable cause hearings in felony cases, bail orders, search warrants, traffic violations and temporary restraining orders. Judges also handle small claims; civil actions with debt, damage or property value not exceeding $40,000; and landlord-tenant disputes. Chief Justice Mark Recktenwald, who appointed Hamman, noted she has served as a per diem or part-time judge since 2014 while also running a Wailuku law practice. "She has established a track record," he said. "She's experienced, and she's ready to hit the ground running." In selecting her from the six nominees submitted by the Judicial Selection Commission, Recktenwald said that what stood out was "her willingness to take on new challenges and to push herself professionally." Hamman's varied background includes working as a law clerk for the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and Legal Aid Society of Hawaii. She was a deputy public defender before working as an attorney with the Maui County Office of Council Services. In her private practice, which focused on family law and special education, "she took on very, very difficult areas of the law," Recktenwald said. Special education cases involving special needs children are "really tough cases, really hard areas of the law to learn," he said. Few attorneys take those cases, Recktenwald said, and Hamman "became one of our state's strongest practitioners in a very short time." He described her as "someone who's willing to push herself, push the limits of her professional knowledge." "I saw somebody who cares deeply about this community in different ways," Recktenwald said. "She's given back to the community." Hamman has volunteered her time to do legal work for "a lot of folks who otherwise wouldn't have had their voice heard," he said. Hamman has been a member of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates and a board member of Horizons Academy of Maui. She was vice chairwoman of the county Commission on Children and Youth and secretary of the Maui County Bar Association. Family Court Judge Adrianne Heely, who was Hamman's classmate at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii, said Hamman would serve "with honor and integrity." "She is known as a hardworker, smart, practical," Heely said. Hamman has been licensed to practice law since Oct. 31, 1997. "I went to law school because I wanted to help people," she said. "I wanted to fight for fairness and justice. I wanted to make other people's lives better." Attorneys help people navigate the legal system, which can be scary and confusing, she said. "We are champions for others," she said. "I pledge to strive to continue to be a champion in the courtroom as a District Court judge." At the ceremony Friday, Hamman was helped into her robe for the first time as a full-time judge by her younger brother, Chad Hamman, and her sons Jaysen Giroux and Mason Ouchi. Her other son, Jacob Giroux, will be starting college and couldn't attend. Hamman also acknowledged her father, Thomas Hamman, an Air Force captain who died in Vietnam when Hamman was a year old. Although she was too young to have a memory of him, "I know he has been my guiding star through my life," Hamman said. She said the ceremony on June 15 was on the same date in 1972 that "we lost my father." "So I know in these small ways, he is with us too," she said. "I know my father would have been the proudest of all." * Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com. [gallery ids="699671,699672,699673"]

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