Wayne R. Wagner
Wayne R. Wagner
  • Partner

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Biography

Wayne is a civil litigator with a practice that includes insurance coverage disputes, environmental matters, bankruptcy, intellectual property, federal class actions, construction defect, and appellate work.

With valuable clerkships in federal and state courts at both the trial court and appellate court level, Wayne offers critical insight into how courts handle and decide his clients’ cases: In federal court, Wayne clerked at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for the Honorable Richard R. Clifton, and at the United States District Court of Hawaiʻi, for then-Chief Judge, the Honorable Susan Oki Mollway. Wayne also clerked at the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court for Chief Justice, the Honorable Mark E. Recktenwald. Wayne then served as Special Assistant/Counsel to Chief Justice Recktenwald.

Wayne graduated number one in his law school class at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi.

OUTSIDE THE OFFICE

When Wayne needs a break from the courtroom, he heads for the outdoors to hike or play soccer. He and his wife once logged 130+ miles hiking the Welsh coast and English countryside (and stopped in Manchester to watch his favorite soccer team Manchester United).

Education

  • University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law, Honolulu, Hawaii
    • J.D.
    • Honors: summa cum laude
    • Honors: Class ranking: # 1 out of 119
    • Honors: Editor-in-Chief of the University of Hawaii Law Review
  • Boston University
    • B.A.
    • Honors: summa cum laude
    • Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
  • Columbia University
    • Ph.D. candidate, Comparative Literature
    • Honors: Faculty Fellowship, Columbia University
  • University of Chicago
    • M.A.
    • Honors: summa cum laude
    • Honors: MAPH scholarship

Bar Admissions

  • Hawaii
  • U.S. District Court District of Hawaii

Published Works

  • Hawaii Chapter, Misrepresentation in the Life, Health, and Disability Insurance Application Process: A National Survey, ABA Book Publishing (2021)
  • Important Changes to the Civil Local Rules for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Hawaii Bar Journal, 24-JAN Haw. B.J. 15 (January 2020)

Practice Areas:

  • Insurance Litigation and Coverage
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Real Estate and Construction Litigation
  • Class Actions
  • Appellate Practice

Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America, 2021-2024
  • Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2021-2023

Past Positions

  • Special Assistant/Counsel to Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court
  • Law Clerk to Judge Richard R. Clifton, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • Law Clerk to then Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway, United States District Court of Hawaiʻi
  • Lecturer-in-Law for Legal Practice, William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi