Introduction
Clare Elizabeth Connors (born May 1974) is an American attorney who is the 16th and current Attorney General of Hawaii. She was also a former nominee for United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Biography
Connors was raised in Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School. She subsequently received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1996 from Yale College, and went on to obtain a Juris Doctor in 2002 from Harvard Law School. Connors began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge David Alan Ezra of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, from 2002 to 2003. From 2003 to 2004, she served as a Trial Attorney in the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice and also served on detail as a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. From 2004 to 2011, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii. From 2011 to 2019, she was an attorney at the law firm of Davis Levin Livingston, in Honolulu, Hawaii, where her practice focused on civil litigation.
Failed nomination to federal district court
On September 8, 2015, President Obama nominated Connors to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, to the seat vacated by Judge Susan Oki Mollway, who took senior status on November 6, 2015. She received a hearing on her nomination on January 27, 2016. On April 14, 2016 her nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote. Her nomination expired on January 3, 2017, with the end of the 114th Congress.
Appointment as Attorney General of Hawaii
Connors was appointed Attorney General of Hawaii by Governor David Ige on January 3, 2019. On April 22, 2019, Connors was confirmed by the Hawaii State Senate with a unanimous 25–0 vote.