David M. Louie (born October 8, 1951, in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, California) is an American lawyer who served as Attorney General of Hawaii from 2011 to 2014.

Early life and education

Born in Oakland, Louie was raised in Los Angeles by his father Paul and mother Emma. He is a third generation

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Han Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans along with their ancestors trace lineage from ...

. His father, Presbyterian minister and Seattle-native Paul Louie, was one of three founders of the

Chinese Historical Society of Southern California Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC, ) is an organization based in Los Angeles Chinatown, California. History On November 1, 1975, the society held its founding meeting at Cathay Bank in Los Angeles, California. Its key at ...

and a member of the Los Angeles Human Relations Commission. Louie attended

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles where he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1973 before attending

Boalt Hall School of Law The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (commonly known as Berkeley Law or UC Berkeley School of Law) is the law school of the University of California, Berkeley, a public research university in Berkeley, California. It is one of 1 ...

at University of California, Berkeley where he obtained his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1977. He was then admitted to the

State Bar of California The State Bar of California is California's official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate disciplin ...

that same year. In 1978, Louie was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar and the bar of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.

Legal career

From 1977 to 1988, Louie was an associate and partner at Case & Lynch in Honolulu. In 1988, Louie became a partner of Honolulu law firm Roeca, Louie and Hiraoka (RLH), and was the managing partner from 1988 to 2010, practicing in the areas of civil litigation, insurance defense, construction defect litigation and commercial litigation. Louie served as Director, Vice President and President of the Hawaii State Bar Association from 1995 to 2001.Press release of attorney general appointment
/ref> Louie also served as Vice-President, Secretary-Treasurer, and a Director of the Hawaii Defense Lawyers Association (1993–2010). From 1999 to 2006, Louie also served as Director and Chairman of the Aloha Tower Development Corporation (ATDC), a state agency charged with developing the land around the Aloha Tower to benefit the state's commercial trade industry based at

Honolulu harbor Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu , is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized ...

while at the same time providing the residents of Hawaii with ample access to the downtown waterfront. In 1999, Louie was appointed to the board of directors of the Hawaii Supreme Court Special Committee on Judicial Performance and at the time of appointment to the attorney general's office, served as its vice chairman. Louie served as Lawyer Representative for the United States Court of Appeals

Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District o ...

from 2005 to 2008. From 2008 to 2010, he served as Northwest Regional Governor for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. While in private practice, Louie was named a Hawaii Super Lawyer (2008–2011). Louie was appointed on December 19, 2010, by Democratic Governor Neil Abercrombie as Attorney General of Hawaii. The chief legal officer is not an elected office and is appointed by the Governor in accordance with Article V, Section 6 of the Constitution of Hawaii, subject to confirmation by the Hawaii Senate. After serving a four-year term under Governor Neil Abercrombie, Louie returned to private practice as a partner at the law firm of Kobayashi Sugita & Goda, LLP, where he handles matters relating to commercial litigation, construction litigation, complex personal injury defense matters, government relations and lobbying. In 2016, Louie was inducted as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is a member of Society of Attorneys General Emeritus, and while serving as Attorney General, was a member of the National Association of Attorneys General and the Conference of Western Attorneys General. He is a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, where he was a past Co-Chair for the Premises Liability Section, and a past Chair of the Diversity Committee. He is a member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and received a Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award from NAPABA in 2015. He received the Occidental College Alumni Seal Award for Community Service in 2013. He is a member of the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, the Defense Research Institute and the American Bar Association. Louie has been a faculty member and lecturer for numerous continuing legal education seminars for the Hawaii State Bar Association, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, American Bar Association, Pacific Law Institute, Professional Education Systems, Inc. and the National Business Institute. He has authored a number of published articles regarding trial techniques and legal issues. David Louie is a registered lobbyist in Hawaii according to the Hawaii Ethics Commission. Louie lobbies for the Internet Association, Facebook, and AirBnB. Lobbying topics include Government Operation and Finance, Hawaiian Affairs, Planning and Land Use Management, Science, Technology and Economic Development, Labor and Employment, Housing, Communications and Public Utilities, Consumer Protection and Commerce, Tourism & Recreation, Technology, and Other including "Transient Accommodations". Louie has been retained by the State of Hawaii as a Special Deputy Attorney General on matters pertaining to the Board of Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and Board of Trustees of the Employees' Retirement System of the State of Hawaii.Stipulation for Dismissal Without Prejudice
ehawaii.gov June 2017

Personal life

He is married to Johanna C. Chuan.

References

External links

Constitution of the State of Hawaii

Office of the Attorney General of Hawaii
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louie, David M. 1951 births Living people Hawaii attorneys general Hawaii Democrats Lawyers from Oakland, California Hawaii politicians of Chinese descent Occidental College alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni