Hawaii welcomes out-of-state lawyers who want to work as public defenders, prosecutors without state licenses
Lawyers can work on criminal matters in Hawaii on behalf of government agencies without law licenses in the state as part of a two-year pilot program that begins Aug. 14. (Image from Shutterstock)
Lawyers can work on criminal matters in Hawaii on behalf of government agencies without law licenses in the state as part of a two-year pilot program that begins Aug. 14.
The Hawaii Supreme Court adopted the pilot project in a June 18 order to address a lawyer shortage in government criminal law, Honolulu Civil Beat reports.
The order applies to lawyers in good standing with active law licenses in other states who graduated from ABA-accredited law schools. They can apply for limited admission to work for the Hawaii public defender’s office, the Hawaii attorney general’s office or county prosecution offices.
Entry level salaries are $91,000 for public defenders and $98,120 for deputy prosecutors in Honolulu, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat.
Mark M. Murakam, president of the mandatory Hawaii State Bar Association, told Honolulu Civil Beat that the association hasn’t been getting enough new members to replace retiring or inactive lawyers.
The association had 3,884 members last year, and only 1,087 are government attorneys.
The pilot program is already having an impact. Maui County has already received an “unheard of” 70 applications for five vacancies since June, Maui County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Martin told the Honolulu Civil Beat.
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