Three Carlsmith Ball LLP Associates Admitted to Hawaii State Bar Association

Carlsmith Ball LLP is pleased to announce that Honolulu associates Alex Chun, Maria Fagerstroem-Ryder and Leo Shimizu were recently admitted to the Hawaii State Bar Association.

Alex Chun serves as an associate in the litigation and alternative dispute resolution practice group in the firm’s Honolulu office. He received his law degree from the University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law, graduating summa cum laude. While attending law school, Chun served as president of Richardson’s Student Bar Association and received the Michael P. Porter Dean’s Scholastic Award in 2016. He served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Mark E. Recktenwald, Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, and as a legislative and policy extern to former Lieutenant Governor Shan Tsutsui. He was sworn in to the Hawaii State Bar on Nov. 9.

Maria Fagerstroem-Ryder is an associate in Carlsmith Ball’s Honolulu office, practicing transactional law. Originally from Finland, she attended the University of Helsinki, where she majored in corporate law and received her Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees. Prior to moving to Hawaii, she served as an associate in Helsinki, focusing on real estate and equity capital market transactions as well as employment law. Fagerstroem-Ryder then attended the University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law to receive her J.D., where she studied land use and environmental law and served as a research assistant to Professor David Callies. She was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar on Jan. 11. 

Leo Shimizu is an associate in Carlsmith Ball’s Honolulu office and a member of the litigation and alternative dispute resolution practice group. He graduated magna cum laude with his law degree from the University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law. As a law student, Shimizu received the CALI Excellence for the Future Awards, recognizing his excellent performance in several courses. He served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Richard R. Clifton, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as a research assistant to Professor Ronald Brown, focusing on labor and employment law, employment discrimination law, and Asian international and comparative labor law. Shimizu was also the staff editor for the university’s Asian-Pacific Law and Policy Journal. He was admitted to the Hawaii State Bar on Nov. 9.

“On behalf of the firm, I’d like to congratulate our associates for reaching a milestone achievement in their careers: passing the bar exam and being admitted to practice law in the state of Hawaii,” said Joanne Lo Grimes Co-Chair of Carlsmith Ball LLP. “We’re grateful for their contributions to our firm and look forward to their continued success as they offer exceptional legal solutions to our clients in Hawaii and beyond.”