Richard W. Pollack (born July 2, 1950) is a former Associate Justice of the

Supreme Court of Hawaii The Supreme Court of Hawaii is the highest court of the State of Hawaii in the United States. Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary. The principal purpose of the Supreme Court is to review the decisions of ...

. He was nominated by

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Neil Abercrombie Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a graduate of Union College and th ...

in 2012 to replace outgoing Justice James E. Duffy, Jr. His nomination was approved in the

Hawaii State Senate The Hawaii Senate is the upper house of the Hawaii State Legislature. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President of the Senate, elected from the membe ...

by a vote of 24–1, and he was appointed on August 6, 2012. He retired on July 2, 2020, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Legal career

Pollack attended the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

and

University of California, Hastings College of the Law The University of California, Hastings College of the Law (UC Hastings) is a public law school in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1878 by Serranus Clinton Hastings, UC Hastings was the first law school of the University of California as ...

, receiving his bachelor of arts degree with honors and his Juris Doctor (1976), respectively. After passing the Hawaii Bar Exam, he became a Deputy Public Defender, serving for seven years. In 1987, he became the State Public Defender, serving for thirteen years until he was appointed as a Judge on the Oahu First Circuit of the

Hawaii State Circuit Courts The Hawaii state circuit courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in Hawaii. They are the primary civil and criminal courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary. The circuit courts are the only Hawaii state courts to conduct jury trials. (The ...

. He is also a Lecturer at the

William S. Richardson School of Law The William S. Richardson School of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Located in Honolulu, Hawaii, the school is named after its patriarch, former Hawaii State Supreme Court Chief Justice William ...

at the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa (University of Hawaii—Mānoa, UH Mānoa, Hawai'i, or simply UH) is a public land-grant research university in Mānoa, a neighborhood in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the flagship campus of the University of Haw ...

, where he teaches Evidence and Criminal Procedure.New nominee continues Law School’s ties with Hawaii Supreme Court , Hawaii Reporter
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References

1950 births Living people 21st-century American judges Hawaii lawyers Justices of the Hawaii Supreme Court Public defenders University of California, Hastings College of the Law alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni {{US-state-judge-stub