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Phone: (808) 531-8031
Fax: (808) 533-2242
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Education

• St. Mary’s University School of Law (JD 2002)
• Texas State University, magna cum laude (BA Psychology 1996)

 

Rebecca A. Copeland, Associate

Prior to joining the firm, Rebecca served as Deputy Solicitor General for the State of Hawaii, and argued important appeals for the State. She has extensive experience as an appellate practitioner and has appeared before state and federal appellate courts in Hawaii and Texas.  For a list of reported cases in which she has been involved, go here.

In 2011, Rebecca founded the Appellate Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association, and she currently serves as the Section’s Chair through the end of 2012.

She publishes Record on Appeal, a blog on appellate issues.

Rebecca also currently serves as an adjunct professor for Legal Practice II at the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law.

Rebecca received her law degree from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas in 2002. During law school, she served as Senior Associate Editor of the St. Mary’s Law Journal and a member of the External Advocacy’s Moot Court Team. Rebecca also interned with the Honorable Justice Emilio M. Garza of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Honorable Justice Paul W. Green of the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals.

Rebecca served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge John S.W. Lim of the Intermediate Court of Appeals from 2002-2003.

She has practiced in the areas of litigation, appeals, estate planning and probate, real estate, and business formation. She has also served as a professor of constitutional law and legal writing at the university and law school levels. 

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Professional and Community Affiliations

• Hawaii State Bar Association
• American Bar Association
• Texas Bar Association
• Member, Hawaii Access to Justice Commission’s Committee on Increasing Pro Bono Legal Services

Bar Admissions

• Hawaii
• Texas
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Courts of Appeals (Ninth and Fifth Circuits)
• U.S. District Courts (District of Hawaii and Western District of Texas)

Publications

• The Changing Face of Vested Rights in Texas: A New Hat for an Old Law, 39 St. Mary’s Law Journal 2 (2007)
     
• War on Terrorism or War on Constitutional Rights? Blurring the Lines of Intelligence Gathering in Post-September 11 America, 35 Texas Tech Law Review 1 (2004) (chosen “Outstanding Lead Article 2003-2004)
   
• Toward a More Effective Standard of Review: The Potential Effect of Burdine v. Johnson on Legal Malpractice in Texas, 33 St. Mary’s Law Journal 4 (2002)
   
• Getting it Right from the Beginning: A Critical Examination of Current Criminal Defense in Texas and Proposal for a Statewide Public Defender System, 32 St. Mary’s Law Journal 3 (2001)