Retired Hawaii State Circuit Judge Rhonda Nishimura remains committed to the equitable, reasonable, and prompt resolution of civil disputes.  During her earlier years as the District Court civil administrative judge, she streamlined the settlement conference docket, reduced the trial waiting period and initiated the Temporary Restraining Order Mediation Pilot Project (in collaboration with the Mediation Center of the Pacific) which shortly thereafter, became a permanent, vital component in managing the voluminous civil district court calendar.  In recognition of her efforts, the Mediation Center of the Pacific presented to Judge Nishimura the “Friend of the Center Award”.

Upon her appointment as a circuit court judge in 2003 and subsequent reassignment from the criminal calendar to the civil calendar in October 2009, she assumed management of a complete docket of civil cases, as well as managing the asbestos toxic tort litigation and agency appeals.  Presiding over a broad spectrum of civil cases and agency appeals–foreclosure, condominium, product liability, commercial, construction, employment, collective bargaining, labor disputes, environmental, workers’ compensation, partnership/corporate law, real property, insurance coverage, general tort, probate/estate/trusts, boards and commissions (e.g. Merit Appeals Board, Land Use Commission, Civil Rights Commission, Zoning Board,  Board of Education, Hawaii Public Housing Authority, Hawaii Labor Relations Board, etc.)–enabled her to engage in a variety of dispute prevention resolution strategies, including “Advisory Jury Trials”, and collaborating with Keith Hunter in a number of complex civil cases.

Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Nishimura was a partner with the law firm of Libkuman, Ventura, Ayabe, Chong & Nishimoto and had served on the boards of Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, Mediation Center of the Pacific, Hawaii State Bar Association, Hawaii Women Lawyers and the Hawaii Justice Foundation and served as Chairperson of the Aloha Tower Development Corporation Board.  She currently sits on the Board of Trustees of the Public Schools of Hawaii Foundation.