JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE

Judge Ochiai (ret.) has presided over cases involving:  complex litigation including:  major construction cases (design and construction defects, wrap up, lien resolution), large pharmaceutical matters (Plavix #1, JUUL vaping cases, Hawaii opioid cases), estate and probate matters (including associated business/corporate dissolution, property division, trust dissolution), aviation accidents (helicopter and fixed wing), religious and educational institutions (including mass sexual offenses), major fire cases (Marco Polo, Hibiscus Drive), employment law (wrongful discharge, whistle blower, discrimination, hostile work environment), personal injury and tort matters, insurance matters (including first party, additional insured, and subrogation), condominium governance, contracts (breach, interpretation), UDAP, fraud, misrepresentation, secured transactions (banking, foreclosure, repossession), corporation/partnership disputes, professional liability (medical, legal, fiduciary, and licensed professionals), products liability, real property (sales, leases, renegotiation), complex discovery matters, and associated civil matters.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Judge Ochiai (ret.) has been a litigation attorney since 1980 with trial experience as a Prosecutor, and with public (Corporation Counsel) and private practice (Managing Attorney at First Insurance for 20.5 years, a statewide practice), and as a judge from 2011 to 2025.  He was an active litigator for 30 years before becoming a judge.  As a judge, he presided over hundreds of civil and criminal matters.  He has been assigned to the civil docket for the majority of his judgeship until his retirement in 2025.

Ochiai has worked extensively with attorneys from Hawaii and pro hac vice mainland counsel.  He has conducted numerous settlement conferences and has worked with mediators in Hawaii and the mainland in obtaining successful settlements.  Notably, Ochiai has worked with master mediator, Keith Hunter, on many cases including some of Hawaii’s largest cases covering a wide spectrum of legal issues.

Ochiai graduated from the UC Law San Francisco (formerly Hastings) in 1980 and the University of Hawaii at Manoa Shidler College of Business in 1977.  He received a Martindale-Hubbell rating of “AV” in 1997.

He is a past member of the Supreme Court Attorneys Disciplinary Board, the Judicial Arbitration Commission (CAAP),  Pattern Civil Jury Instruction Committee, and is currently a member of the Hawaii Supreme Court Board of Bar Examiners.

He has participated as a panelist in annual CAAP training with Robert Toyofuku, as a panelist in National Business Institute’s CLE for attorneys, and with the Richardson School of Law as a judge for civil litigation classes.