• Moses Haia III

    Moses Kalei Nahonoapi`ilani Haia III is the executive director of NHLC. Before his appointment, Moses was a staff attorney at NHLC, obtaining landmark victories in native rights cases seeking to protect ancient Hawaiian burials and Native Hawaiian water rights.

    Before joining NHLC in 2001, Moses was a solo practitioner. His practice involved labor and employment law, civil litigation and native Hawaiian rights. Moses also previously served as a staff attorney with a native rights law firm, the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council, where he litigated a seminal water rights case involving the distribution of water from one part of O'ahu to another through the Waiahole Ditch.

    Professional Affiliations

    • Hawaii State Bar Association
    • Native Hawaiian Bar Association

    Past Positions

    • Staff Attorney, Native Hawaiian Advisory Council (1995 to 1997)

    Acknowledgements

    Recognized by major Honolulu daily newspaper as one of “10 Who Made A Difference” in 2007

    Publications

    • Editor and Contributor, E alu like mai i ka pono = Coming together for justice. This handbook describes the legislative process, administrative agencies that deal with Hawaiian affairs, and how Hawaiians can participate in governmental decision-making.
    • Eric Yamamoto, Moses Haia & Donna Kalama, Courts and the Cultural Performance : Native Hawaiians' Uncertain Federal and State Law Rights To Sue, 16 Hawaii L. Rev. 1 (Summer 1994)

    Education

    • William S. Richardson School of Law (J.D. 1994)
    • University of Hawaii (B.A., Political Science, 1989)

  • Alan T. Murakami

    Alan Murakami has been NHLC's litigation director since 1990, and an attorney with NHLC since 1985. He has specialized in litigating novel land and water issues affecting Native Hawaiians. In the process, Alan has created important precedent that allows Native Hawaiians to enforce their rights under two trusts established for their benefit and defined the trust obligations owed to Native Hawaiians. While defending Hawaiian families who retain legal interests in family lands against litigation challenging their ownership rights, Alan effectively persuaded the Supreme Court to articulate their due process rights.

    Alan has a long and distinguished legal career serving Native Hawaiian communities. Before joining NHLC, he was the managing director of the Moloka`i and Wai`anae offices of the Legal Aid Society of Hawai`i from 1981 to 1983, serving disadvantaged Native Hawaiian communities.

    Case Highlights

    Hustace v. Kapuni

    Represented Native Hawaiian family in precedential case, articulating the due process requirements that must be met in quiet title lawsuits aimed at securing ownership of Native Hawaiian-owned land through adverse possession.

    Napeahi v. Paty

    Argued successfully for precedent that submerged lands are part of the public ceded lands trust and thereby subject to the land claims of Native Hawaiians.

    Successfully represented a Hawaiian family in its petition before the Land Use Commission against plans by the Kahala Capital Corp. to construct a resort and golf course complex in areas that have been used by the family for nine generations. The LUC rejected the developer’s proposal and Kahala Capital appealed the decision to the circuit court. The court affirmed the LUC’s decision and the developer has not appealed.

    Fishermen in Miloli‘i

    Alan represented fishermen in Miloli‘i, the last traditional fishing village in the state. Their fishing grounds were threatened by a massive development in Ka‘u, initially approved by the State Land Use Commission. Alan successfully appealed that decision, which was reversed for failure to adequately consider and account for the impacts of the planned marina on these fishing grounds.

    Publications

    • Contributor, Native Hawaiian Rights Handbook

    Awards and Recognition

    • Hawai‘inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, “I Ulu I Ke Kumu” Award  (2011)
    • National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“NAPBA”) Trailblazer Award  (2007)
    • In 1999, the state wide organization of the Hawaiian Civic Clubs honored Mr. Murakami for his legal advocacy to Native Hawaiians, especially beneficiaries of the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust.

    Professional Affiliations

    • Hawai`i Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights
    • Japanese American Citizens League
    • National board member for the Rural Community Assistance Corporation and the Community Based Economic Development

    Education

    • University of California at Davis (J.D. 1978)
    • University of Hawaii (M.A., Economics, 1975)
    • University of Santa Clara (B.A., Economics, 1971)

  • David Kimo Frankel

    David Frankel joined NHLC in 2006 as a staff attorney. At NHLC, David focuses on Native Rights cases. Before NHLC, David worked as a staff attorney at Legal Aid and served as director of the Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter from 1996-1998. He has worked within state government as well, as a planning and policy analyst for the Office of State Planning, committee clerk for the State House of Representatives, and legislative auditor for the County of Hawai'i.

    Case Highlights

    In Kaleikini v. Thielen, David recently persuaded the state Supreme Court to overturn a lower appellate court, and rule that Native Hawaiians have the right to challenge, through an administrative hearing, a developer’s plans for how to treat Native Hawaiian burials.

    He also obtained a settlement, on behalf of Jimmy Helenihi, under which the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands will be awarding leases for three Panaewa agricultural lots that have remained fallow for nearly a quarter-century.

    David has helped protect burial and cultural sites at Pāo`o (“SECRETS”) on the Kohala Coastline from development; obtained a change in the land use designation just south of the Kaloko Honokōhau National Historical Park from urban expansion to open, thereby providing greater protection of cultural resources; fought the now-defunct resort proposals at Punalu`u and Honokōhau on Hawai`i Island; successfully prevented subdivisions that jeopardized cultural resources in Ka`u and La`au; and blocked drainage projects that jeopardized limu beds in Ewa.

    Publications

    • Protecting Paradise: A Citizen’s Guide to Land & Water Use Controls in Hawai`i (Dolphin Press, 1997)
    • Enforcement of Environmental Laws in Hawai`i, 16 University of Hawai`i Law Review 85 (Summer 1994)
    • The Hawai`i Supreme Court: An Overview, 14 University of Hawai`i Law Review 5 (Summer 1992)
    • An Analysis of Hawai`i’s Superfund Law, 1990, 13 University of Hawai`i Law Review 301 (Summer 1991)

    Education

    • William S. Richardson School of Law (J.D. 1992)
    • University of Hawa'i, (M.A., Urban and Regional Planning, 1993)
    • Carleton College (B.A., Russian Studies, 1985)

  • Andrew B. Sprenger

    Andrew Sprenger concentrates on Native Hawaiian land title matters. He has been with Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation since 2002.

    Prior to his work with NHLC, Andrew worked as an attorney for legal services offices in the Navajo Nation and in the Federated States of Micronesia.

    Andrew has also worked as a staff attorney for U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit where he primarily reviewed civil rights, habeas corpus and environmental appeals for the bench. He is a member of the Hawaii State Bar, the New Mexico State Bar, the Navajo Nation Bar, and is licensed to practice in the Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia and the island state of Pohnpei, FSM.

    Case Highlights

    Blocked the sale of a 100-acre parcel of ancestral Hawaiian land near the Kona airport and secured the preservation of 92 acres, worth over $9 million, for a Native Hawaiian family trust.

    Defended Native Hawaiian family with claims to a six-acre parcel of former sugar cane land in North Kohala against a quiet title action brought by a development corporation. Prevented a forced sale of this parcel of land.

    Litigated influential federal civil rights action seeking to prevent Kaiser Permanente from destroying ‘iewe (a Native Hawaiian child’s placenta traditionally cleaned or buried after the child’s birth,as part of an important ritual ), pursuant to State infectious waste policy.

    Obtained a settlement agreement between the State of Hawaii’s Department of Public Safety and a private prison to allow Native Hawaiian practitioners to practice religion in a facility in Oklahoma.

    Admissions

    • Hawaii
    • New Mexico
    • Navajo Nation Bar

    Past Positions

    • Staff Attorney, Micronesian Legal Services Corporation (1998-2002)
    • Staff Attorney, United States Court of Appeals (1993-1998)
    • Staff Attorney, DNA-People’s Legal Services, Incorporated (1990-1993)

    Education

    • Mercer University School of Law (J.D. 1990)
    • University of Florida (B.A., Journalism, 1987)

  • Camille Kalama

    Camille Kalama joined NHLC in 2006 after clerking for one year at the Hawaii Supreme Court. Camille views her work with NHLC -- to protect and preserve native rights and resources -- as her kuleana or responsibility as a Native Hawaiian. At NHLC, Camille focuses on Native Rights and Hawaiian Homes.

    Prior to joining NHLC, Camille was involved in the Polynesian Voyaging Society and was named NCAA Woman Athlete of the Year for the state of Hawaii in 2001.

    Case Highlights

    Defeated a motion for preliminary injunctive relief brought by Kim Taylor Reece, a professional photographer well-known for his depiction of hula dancers, against a Native Hawaiian artist.

    Successfully challenged summary possession action against Native Hawaiian family in quiet title action.

    Assisted a lessee with rebuilding his lot and maintaining his Hawaiian Home Lands lease.

    Clerkships

    • Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon, Supreme Court of Hawaii (2005-2006)

    Acknowledgements 

    The Hawaii State Bar Association (HSBA) selected Camille to serve as one of 15 fellows in its 2010 Leadership Institute. The Hawaii State Bar Association Leadership Institute encourages diversity among the leaders of the bar by recruiting and targeting members with a keen interest in expanding their talents and services to the bar and community at large.

    Education

    • William S. Richardson School of Law (J.D. 2005)
    • University of Hawaii (B.A., Geography, 2000)

  • Sharla Manley

    Sharla Manley joined NHLC as a staff attorney in 2010. Before joining NHLC, Sharla was an associate at an international law firm in Los Angeles in its global litigation department for over three years. In addition to handling commercial litigation matters, she also took pro bono cases, involving voting rights, asylum, and California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act.

    Also, Sharla was an associate at a plaintiff-side class action firm where she primarily handled appeals of wage and hour cases before state appellate courts and the Ninth Circuit.

    Before law school, Sharla was a policy analyst on Native Hawaiian rights at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. She focused on water rights and the impact of military activities on cultural resources in Makua Valley.

    Admissions

    • California
    • Hawaii

    Acknowledgements

    • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Judge Warren Ferguson Social Justice Essay Contest Winner (2005)

    Externships

    • Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal (2004)

    Education

    • University of Southern California (J.D. 2005)
    • Stanford University (B.A., History, Highest Honors, 1996)

  • Ashley Obrey

    Ashley Obrey joined NHLC as a staff attorney in 2010. She clerked for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawai'i for a year before joining NHLC. While Ashley was in law school, she co-authored two articles that were published in national law journals.

    Clerkships

    • Chief Justice Ronald T.Y. Moon, Supreme Court of Hawai'i (August 2009-August 2010)

    Acknowledgements

    • CALI Excellence for the Future Highest Grade Awards in Appellate Advocacy, Historic Preservation, Reparations, and Race, Culture and the Law
    • Best Brief Award in Appellate Advocacy
    • University of Hawai`i Law Review

    Past Positions

    • Earthjustice Law Clerk (Summer 2008)
    • Equal Justice Society Scholar Advocate (Summer 2007)

    Publications

    • Reframing Redress: A “Social Healing Through Justice” Approach to United States-Native Hawaiian and Japan-Ainu Reconciliation Initiatives (coauthored with Eric K. Yamamoto), 16 Asian Am. L.J. 1 (2009)
    • From Heart Mountain to Iraq: Lt. Watada and a Continuing Line of Resistance (coauthored with Eric K. Yamamoto), UCLA Amerasia Journal, Volume 13, Number 3 (2007)

    Education

    • William S. Richardson School of Law (J.D. 2009)
    • Pepperdine University (B.A., Journalism, magna cum laude, 2005)

  • David Kauila Kopper

    David Kauila Kopper is a staff attorney at NHLC. Before joining NHLC, Kauila established himself as being adept at oral argument, placing well in a national moot court competition. He also served as an editor for the University of Hawai`i Law Review.

    Acknowledgments

    • Fourth Place Overall, National Native American Law Student Association Moot Court Competition, Vermillion, South Dakota, February 2010
    • CALI AWARD for Highest Grade, Jurisprudence, William S. Richardson School of Law, Fall, 2009
    • CALI AWARD for Highest Grade, Real Property, William S. Richardson School of Law, Spring, 2008
    • CALI AWARD for Highest Grade, Legal Practice II, William S. Richardson School of Law, Spring 2008

    Past Positions

    • Executive Editor for Publications, University of Hawai`i Law Review, 2008-2009
    • Native American Moot Court Team, William S. Richardson School of Law, 2008-2009

    Education

    • William S. Richardson School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 2010)
    • Herberger College of Fine Arts, Arizona State University (B.M., Music Performance, magna cum laude, 2006)

  • Li‘ulā Nakama

    Li‘ulā Nakama serves as an intake attorney, handling all inquiries at NHLC.  Throughout law school and during her Post-JD Research Fellowship at Ka Huli Ao, Li‘ulā researched the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the empowerment of Hawaiian Home Lands community associations, and the future of these lands in a post-Akaka Bill society.  She graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law with a Pacific Asian Legal Studies Certificate with a Specialty in Native Hawaiian Law.  She previously worked for NHLC as a summer law clerk in 2007.

    Affiliations

    • Advocates for Public Interest Law, Community Board Director & Secretary
    • Hawai‘i State Bar Association
    • Native Hawaiian Bar Association
    • Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honor Society

    Acknowledgements

    • CALI Award for Highest Grade, Environmental Law, William S. Richardson School of Law, Fall 2007
    • CALI Award for Highest Grade, Legal Practice, William S. Richardson School of Law, Fall 2006

    Past Positions

    • Renewable Energy Project Assistant, Hawai‘i State Energy Office (2010-2011)
    • Post-J.D. Research Fellow, Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law (2009-2010)

    Education

    • William S. Richardson School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 2009)
    • University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (B.A., Ethnic Studies, 2005)