Paula Nakayama was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawai’i for 30 years. Prior to being appointed to the Supreme Court, she was a trial court judge in the Circuit Court of the First Circuit in Honolulu. Among her noteworthy opinions are the Waiahole decision which recognized the public trust doctrine, the principle that natural resources must be held in trust by the State for future generations and Best Place, which established a good faith duty on the part of insurers. Throughout the years she has authored opinions and sat on cases involving insurance, torts, trusts and estates, premises liability, product liability, contracts, employment and labor, real property, energy and the environment and many others areas of law.

Justice Nakayama chaired the Hawai’i Rules of Appellate Procedure and the Committee on Children in Family Court which concentrates on foster youth. She served as the Supreme Court liaison to the Board of Bar Examiners, the Judicial Education Committee and the Board of Certified Shorthand Reporters. Justice Nakayama chaired the Appellate Review Task Force which resulted in broad changes to the appellate system in Hawai’i and served on the Board of Directors for the American Judicature Society.

Justice Nakayama has been cited twice for Outstanding Judicial Achievement by Hawai’i Women Lawyers and as a Woman of Distinction by Soroptimists International.
In 2023 Justice Nakayama was honored by the Hawai’i State Bar Association, receiving the Golden Gavel Award and was featured in the book Living Legacy, Outstanding Japanese Woman of the 20th Century in Hawaii