New faculty join Richardson law school

The William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is pleased to welcome seven new faculty members.

“This is an incredibly exciting time at the law school, with seven new faculty joining us, in addition to the six professors we added in the past two years,” said Professor Richard Chen, chair of the law school’s Faculty Hiring Committee. “We have prioritized hiring faculty who will bolster our teaching capacity in core subjects while also enhancing our expertise in the specialized fields that students come to Richardson to study. With the energy and innovative ideas our new colleagues are bringing, we have a unique opportunity to revamp our programs and better prepare our students to excel in the modern legal landscape.”

The new faculty members will begin this upcoming fall semester.

Aamir S. Abdullah

Reference and Instructional Services Librarian

• MLIS, University of North Texas, 2020
• JD, University of Houston Law Center, 2012
• BS, University of Houston, 2009

What is your new role at Richardson? I am interested in the intersection of law and technology. I will be teaching first-year legal research and writing courses. I am most excited about the prospect of working with the online JD program.

What are you most excited about? I am excited to be joining the esteemed faculty at the William S. Richardson School of Law. I am eager to work alongside the exceptional faculty to mold and develop Hawaiʻi’s future leading lawyers. I am also excited to learn and participate in the Online JD program. I look forward to serving the community and helping the Online JD program grow and succeed.


Eduardo R.C. Capulong

Professor of Law and Director of Experiential Learning

• CUNY School of Law, 1991
• NYU College of Arts & Science, 1986

What is your new role at Richardson? I’ll be directing the school’s experiential program, which includes our clinics, externships, and simulation courses. My areas of expertise include clinical/experiential/lawyering pedagogy, cause/social justice lawyering, and professional identity formation.

What are you most excited about? I’m most excited about joining and contributing to the Richardson and UH community and working alongside such wonderful colleagues. I’m very much looking forward to meeting everyone, learning about and from the community, and playing a role in continuing to build on the excellent work.


Nicholas McLean

Assistant Professor of Law

• JD, Yale Law School, 2013
• BA, Yale College, 2005

What is your new role at Richardson? I will be teaching and writing primarily in the field of constitutional law. My research interests span a number of different areas within the field—but a common thread is a particular interest in doctrinal scholarship, informed by my prior work in private practice and public service.

What are you most excited about? Richardson is a wonderful community; as a Lecturer-in-Law at Richardson for the past four years, I’ve been so fortunate to have the chance to work with this school’s extraordinary students. In joining the faculty, I am especially excited at the prospect of teaching and mentoring our students.


Alina Ng Boyte

Professor of Law

• JSD, Stanford Law School, 2004 (Doctor of the Science of Law)
• JSM, Stanford Law School, 2001 (Master of the Science of Law
• LLM, University of Cambridge, 1996  (Master of Laws)
• LLB, University of London, 1995 (Bachelor of Laws)

What is your new role at Richardson? I will teach and write about property, land use, and intellectual property laws and their relationship with sustainability and sustainable development. My doctoral dissertation at Stanford was in copyright history, and I love studying legal history. So, I would love to research the history of laws in Hawaiʻi, particularly land-use rights and their historical relationship with Native Hawaiian sustainable land practices and stewardship. I am also working on a first-year property textbook project that examines the relationship between basic property principles and environmental social governance.

What are you most excited about? I am excited to work on programs and projects focused on property rights, sustainability, and sustainable development goals in Hawaiʻi and beyond. Hawaiʻi is a fantastic place to study land-use law, sustainability, and sustainable development because of its unique setting as an archipelago in the Pacific that is rich in culture, storytelling, and traditional knowledge. There is no other place on the planet where resiliency, respect for the sacredness of the environment, rapid urban development, and ecotourism coalesce more perfectly together than Hawaiʻi. I look forward to participating in this conversation with different stakeholders in these issues and contributing to a more sustainable and resilient future for Hawaiʻi.


MJ Palau-McDonald ’22

Assistant Professor of Law

• JD, William S. Richardson School of Law, 2022 (Certificate in Native Hawaiian Law)
• BA, University of Puget Sound, 2018 (Classical Language)

What is your new role at Richardson? I will primarily teach Legal Writing and help build the new Legal Writing program. I also hope to teach classes in my other areas of interest, including Native Hawaiian Law, Water Law, Blockchain Law and Policy, and Critical Race Studies.

What are you most excited about? I’m thrilled to be returning to Richardson as a faculty member. My mentors, friends, and the communities we copower together are here, and the faculty and courses embody CJ’s (Chief Justice William S. Richardson) vision of service learning and commitment to restorative justice. I really can’t imagine working anywhere else.


Hollee Temple

Professor of Law and Director of Legal Writing

• JD, Duke University School of Law, 1999
• MSJ, Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, 1996
• BSJ, Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism, 1996

What is your new role at Richardson? I will be teaching legal writing courses and working with a growing team of legal writing experts to design a robust writing curriculum that spans all three years of law school. With advances in AI and the changes coming to the bar exam, it is both an exciting and challenging time for legal writers at all levels. I am eager to work with my colleagues to enhance writing and problem-solving skills across the curriculum so that our students are prepared for the challenges of joining the profession at this dynamic moment in history.

What are you most excited about? In addition to the obvious adventure of moving to somewhere as unique and beautiful as Hawaiʻi, I am so excited about the opportunity to work with both the legal research professors and our growing legal writing faculty to develop the best program we can for Richardson students.


Esther Sungeun Yoo

 Assistant Professor and Director of the Refugee and Immigration Law Clinic

• JD, UCLA School of Law, 2013 
• AB, Harvard University, 2003

What is your new role at Richardson? I will be teaching the Immigration Law and Immigration Clinic courses and directing the law school’s Refugee and Immigration Law Clinic. I have served as a Visiting Assistant Faculty Specialist and Interim Director of the Refugee and Immigration Law Clinic at the law school.

What are you most excited about? I am excited to teach and mentor the next generation of Richardson lawyers, particularly those who wish to work in the public interest.