Kiana K. T. Nakanelua

Kiana K.T. Nakanelua is an associate at Schlack Ito. Prior to joining the firm, she served as a law clerk to First Circuit Court Civil Administrative Judge Jeannette H. Castagnetti, and most recently, she practiced family law at Hartley & McGehee, LLP.

Ms. Nakanelua attended Kamehameha Schools (Kapalama) and went on to receive her undergraduate degree from the University of Miami (FL) in 2014. After working as a legal secretary at a small firm in Houston, Texas for two years, she returned home to obtain her Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law in 2019.  While attending law school, she took night classes at the Shidler College of Business and graduated with her Master’s Degree in Business Administration in 2019.

In law school, Ms. Nakanelua spent one year serving as the Vice President of Advocates for Public Interest Law (APIL) and Treasurer of Students for Public Outreach & Civic Education (SPOCE). She was an APIL grantee, serving as a summer extern at the Domestic Violence Action Center, and also spent one semester as a judicial extern to the Honorable Jeannette H. Castagnetti, one semester with Senator (then Representative) Jarrett Keohokalole, and one semester at Central Pacific Bank. She also served as a volunteer mediator at the Mediation Center of the Pacific, specifically mediating divorce and paternity cases. Ms. Nakanelua received CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for the highest grade secured in Immigration Law and Native Hawaiian Rights.